Intermission: "Napoli in Fiamme."

KacheliTV — world classics, read aloud.

Intermission: "La Partenza."

KacheliTV — world classics, read aloud.

Intermission: "Before the Pines End."

KacheliTV — world classics, read aloud.

Intermission: "The River's Dying Vision."

KacheliTV — world classics, read aloud.

Intermission: "Three Pairs of Yellow Eyes."

KacheliTV — world classics, read aloud.

No complete English translation of Omar Khayyam's rubaiyat has ever existed — the largest ever published gathered 878 of the thousand quatrains attributed to him. This programme is the first to translate all 1,000 into English and the first to record them in full: every quatrain, in fresh translations made for this recording, with the Persian-style music of the Rubaiyat's own world beneath them.

This episode: Quatrains 935–1000 of 1,000 — the final part. Fresh English verse translations made for this recording from the public-domain source texts, read aloud over a gentle instrumental bed from the programme's own Persian-style music library.

A note on attribution: the thousand quatrains of the Rubaiyat come down through the manuscript tradition attributed to Omar Khayyam (1048–1131); only a small core is certainly his, and "attributed" is kept throughout.

Intermission: "upload-24" — instrumental.

KacheliTV — world classics, read aloud.

No complete English translation of Omar Khayyam's rubaiyat has ever existed — the largest ever published gathered 878 of the thousand quatrains attributed to him. This programme is the first to translate all 1,000 into English and the first to record them in full: every quatrain, in fresh translations made for this recording, with the Persian-style music of the Rubaiyat's own world beneath them.

This episode: Quatrains 869–934 of 1,000 — fresh English verse translations made for this recording from the public-domain source texts, read aloud over a gentle instrumental bed from the programme's own Persian-style music library.

A note on attribution: the thousand quatrains of the Rubaiyat come down through the manuscript tradition attributed to Omar Khayyam (1048–1131); only a small core is certainly his, and "attributed" is kept throughout.

Intermission: "Dutar Dialogue 2" — instrumental.

KacheliTV — world classics, read aloud.

No complete English translation of Omar Khayyam's rubaiyat has ever existed — the largest ever published gathered 878 of the thousand quatrains attributed to him. This programme is the first to translate all 1,000 into English and the first to record them in full: every quatrain, in fresh translations made for this recording, with the Persian-style music of the Rubaiyat's own world beneath them.

This episode: Quatrains 803–868 of 1,000 — fresh English verse translations made for this recording from the public-domain source texts, read aloud over a gentle instrumental bed from the programme's own Persian-style music library.

A note on attribution: the thousand quatrains of the Rubaiyat come down through the manuscript tradition attributed to Omar Khayyam (1048–1131); only a small core is certainly his, and "attributed" is kept throughout.

Intermission: "2-39" — instrumental.

KacheliTV — world classics, read aloud.

No complete English translation of Omar Khayyam's rubaiyat has ever existed — the largest ever published gathered 878 of the thousand quatrains attributed to him. This programme is the first to translate all 1,000 into English and the first to record them in full: every quatrain, in fresh translations made for this recording, with the Persian-style music of the Rubaiyat's own world beneath them.

This episode: Quatrains 737–802 of 1,000 — fresh English verse translations made for this recording from the public-domain source texts, read aloud over a gentle instrumental bed from the programme's own Persian-style music library.

A note on attribution: the thousand quatrains of the Rubaiyat come down through the manuscript tradition attributed to Omar Khayyam (1048–1131); only a small core is certainly his, and "attributed" is kept throughout.

Intermission: "Kemençe ile Şaka" — instrumental.

KacheliTV — world classics, read aloud.

No complete English translation of Omar Khayyam's rubaiyat has ever existed — the largest ever published gathered 878 of the thousand quatrains attributed to him. This programme is the first to translate all 1,000 into English and the first to record them in full: every quatrain, in fresh translations made for this recording, with the Persian-style music of the Rubaiyat's own world beneath them.

This episode: Quatrains 671–736 of 1,000 — fresh English verse translations made for this recording from the public-domain source texts, read aloud over a gentle instrumental bed from the programme's own Persian-style music library.

A note on attribution: the thousand quatrains of the Rubaiyat come down through the manuscript tradition attributed to Omar Khayyam (1048–1131); only a small core is certainly his, and "attributed" is kept throughout.

Intermission: "Dutar Şakası" — instrumental.

KacheliTV — world classics, read aloud.

No complete English translation of Omar Khayyam's rubaiyat has ever existed — the largest ever published gathered 878 of the thousand quatrains attributed to him. This programme is the first to translate all 1,000 into English and the first to record them in full: every quatrain, in fresh translations made for this recording, with the Persian-style music of the Rubaiyat's own world beneath them.

This episode: Quatrains 604–670 of 1,000 — fresh English verse translations made for this recording from the public-domain source texts, read aloud over a gentle instrumental bed from the programme's own Persian-style music library.

A note on attribution: the thousand quatrains of the Rubaiyat come down through the manuscript tradition attributed to Omar Khayyam (1048–1131); only a small core is certainly his, and "attributed" is kept throughout.

Intermission: "The Unknown Island 2" — instrumental.

KacheliTV — world classics, read aloud.

No complete English translation of Omar Khayyam's rubaiyat has ever existed — the largest ever published gathered 878 of the thousand quatrains attributed to him. This programme is the first to translate all 1,000 into English and the first to record them in full: every quatrain, in fresh translations made for this recording, with the Persian-style music of the Rubaiyat's own world beneath them.

This episode: Quatrains 537–603 of 1,000 — fresh English verse translations made for this recording from the public-domain source texts, read aloud over a gentle instrumental bed from the programme's own Persian-style music library.

A note on attribution: the thousand quatrains of the Rubaiyat come down through the manuscript tradition attributed to Omar Khayyam (1048–1131); only a small core is certainly his, and "attributed" is kept throughout.

Intermission: "upload-23" — instrumental.

KacheliTV — world classics, read aloud.

No complete English translation of Omar Khayyam's rubaiyat has ever existed — the largest ever published gathered 878 of the thousand quatrains attributed to him. This programme is the first to translate all 1,000 into English and the first to record them in full: every quatrain, in fresh translations made for this recording, with the Persian-style music of the Rubaiyat's own world beneath them.

This episode: Quatrains 470–536 of 1,000 — fresh English verse translations made for this recording from the public-domain source texts, read aloud over a gentle instrumental bed from the programme's own Persian-style music library.

A note on attribution: the thousand quatrains of the Rubaiyat come down through the manuscript tradition attributed to Omar Khayyam (1048–1131); only a small core is certainly his, and "attributed" is kept throughout.

Intermission: "upload-22" — instrumental.

KacheliTV — world classics, read aloud.

No complete English translation of Omar Khayyam's rubaiyat has ever existed — the largest ever published gathered 878 of the thousand quatrains attributed to him. This programme is the first to translate all 1,000 into English and the first to record them in full: every quatrain, in fresh translations made for this recording, with the Persian-style music of the Rubaiyat's own world beneath them.

This episode: Quatrains 403–469 of 1,000 — fresh English verse translations made for this recording from the Persian originals (public domain), read aloud over a gentle instrumental bed from the programme's own Persian-style music library.

A note on attribution: the thousand quatrains of the Rubaiyat come down through the manuscript tradition attributed to Omar Khayyam (1048–1131); only a small core is certainly his, and "attributed" is kept throughout.

Intermission: "upload-21" — instrumental.

KacheliTV — world classics, read aloud.

No complete English translation of Omar Khayyam's rubaiyat has ever existed — the largest ever published gathered 878 of the thousand quatrains attributed to him. This programme is the first to translate all 1,000 into English and the first to record them in full: every quatrain, in fresh translations made for this recording, with the Persian-style music of the Rubaiyat's own world beneath them.

This episode: Quatrains 336–402 of 1,000 — fresh English verse translations made for this recording from the Persian originals (public domain), read aloud over a gentle instrumental bed from the programme's own Persian-style music library.

A note on attribution: the thousand quatrains of the Rubaiyat come down through the manuscript tradition attributed to Omar Khayyam (1048–1131); only a small core is certainly his, and "attributed" is kept throughout.

Intermission: "upload-20" — instrumental.

KacheliTV — world classics, read aloud.

No complete English translation of Omar Khayyam's rubaiyat has ever existed — the largest ever published gathered 878 of the thousand quatrains attributed to him. This programme is the first to translate all 1,000 into English and the first to record them in full: every quatrain, in fresh translations made for this recording, with the Persian-style music of the Rubaiyat's own world beneath them.

This episode: Quatrains 269–335 of 1,000 — fresh English verse translations made for this recording from the Persian originals (public domain), read aloud over a gentle instrumental bed from the programme's own Persian-style music library.

A note on attribution: the thousand quatrains of the Rubaiyat come down through the manuscript tradition attributed to Omar Khayyam (1048–1131); only a small core is certainly his, and "attributed" is kept throughout.

Intermission: "upload-19" — instrumental.

KacheliTV — world classics, read aloud.

No complete English translation of Omar Khayyam's rubaiyat has ever existed — the largest ever published gathered 878 of the thousand quatrains attributed to him. This programme is the first to translate all 1,000 into English and the first to record them in full: every quatrain, in fresh translations made for this recording, with the Persian-style music of the Rubaiyat's own world beneath them.

This episode: Quatrains 202–268 of 1,000 — fresh English verse translations made for this recording from the Persian originals (public domain), read aloud over a gentle instrumental bed from the programme's own Persian-style music library.

A note on attribution: the thousand quatrains of the Rubaiyat come down through the manuscript tradition attributed to Omar Khayyam (1048–1131); only a small core is certainly his, and "attributed" is kept throughout.

Intermission: "upload-18" — instrumental.

KacheliTV — world classics, read aloud.

No complete English translation of Omar Khayyam's rubaiyat has ever existed — the largest ever published gathered 878 of the thousand quatrains attributed to him. This programme is the first to translate all 1,000 into English and the first to record them in full: every quatrain, in fresh translations made for this recording, with the Persian-style music of the Rubaiyat's own world beneath them.

This episode: Quatrains 135–201 of 1,000 — fresh English verse translations made for this recording from the Persian originals (public domain), read aloud over a gentle instrumental bed from the programme's own Persian-style music library.

A note on attribution: the thousand quatrains of the Rubaiyat come down through the manuscript tradition attributed to Omar Khayyam (1048–1131); only a small core is certainly his, and "attributed" is kept throughout.

Intermission: "upload-17" — instrumental.

KacheliTV — world classics, read aloud.

No complete English translation of Omar Khayyam's rubaiyat has ever existed — the largest ever published gathered 878 of the thousand quatrains attributed to him. This programme is the first to translate all 1,000 into English and the first to record them in full: every quatrain, in fresh translations made for this recording, with the Persian-style music of the Rubaiyat's own world beneath them.

This episode: Quatrains 68–134 of 1,000 — fresh English verse translations made for this recording from the Persian originals (public domain), read aloud over a gentle instrumental bed from the programme's own Persian-style music library.

A note on attribution: the thousand quatrains of the Rubaiyat come down through the manuscript tradition attributed to Omar Khayyam (1048–1131); only a small core is certainly his, and "attributed" is kept throughout.

Intermission: "upload-16" — instrumental.

KacheliTV — world classics, read aloud.

No complete English translation of Omar Khayyam's rubaiyat has ever existed — the largest ever published gathered 878 of the thousand quatrains attributed to him. This programme is the first to translate all 1,000 into English and the first to record them in full: every quatrain, in fresh translations made for this recording, with the Persian-style music of the Rubaiyat's own world beneath them.

This episode: Quatrains 1–67 of 1,000 — fresh English verse translations made for this recording from the Persian originals (public domain), read aloud over a gentle instrumental bed from the programme's own Persian-style music library.

A note on attribution: the thousand quatrains of the Rubaiyat come down through the manuscript tradition attributed to Omar Khayyam (1048–1131); only a small core is certainly his, and "attributed" is kept throughout.

Intermission: "The Unknown Island" — instrumental.

KacheliTV — world classics, read aloud.

Ode to the Revolution (Ода революции), Order to the Army of Arts (Приказ по армии искусства), Too Early to Rejoice (Радоваться рано), The Worker Poet (Поэт рабочий), To That Side (Той стороне), Left March (Левый марш), Staggering Facts (Потрясающие факты), With Comradely Greetings, Mayakovsky (С товарищеским приветом, Маяковский), We Are Marching (Мы идем), Vladimir Ilyich! (Владимир Ильич!), An Extraordinary Adventure Which Befell Vladimir Mayakovsky at the Dacha in Summer (Необычайное приключение, бывшее с Владимиром Маяковским летом на даче), Attitude to a Young Lady (Отношение к барышне), In the Manner of Heine (Гейнеобразное), Grief (Горе), and "The Cigarette Case Sank a Third into the Grass…" («Портсигар в траву ушел на треть…») — fifteen poems by Vladimir Mayakovsky, in new English verse translations made for this show, read aloud over a gentle instrumental bed.

Ода революции · Приказ по армии искусства · Радоваться рано · Поэт рабочий · Той стороне · Левый марш · Потрясающие факты · С товарищеским приветом, Маяковский · Мы идем · Владимир Ильич! · Необычайное приключение, бывшее с Владимиром Маяковским летом на даче · Отношение к барышне · Гейнеобразное · Горе · «Портсигар в траву ушел на треть…»

Mayakovsky.

Intermission: "upload-13" — instrumental.

KacheliTV — Russian classics, read aloud.

To His Own Beloved Self the Author Dedicates These Lines (Себе, любимому, посвящает эти строки автор), The Last Petersburg Tale (Последняя петербургская сказка), To Russia (России), Brother Writers (Братья писатели), Revolution (Революция), Captions for the Parus Publishing House Posters (Подписи к плакатам издательства «Парус»), The Tale of the Red Riding Hood (Сказка о красной шапочке), To Account! (К ответу!), It Is Not Hard, Breathing Lilies of the Valley (Нетрудно, ландышами дыша), An International Fable (Интернациональная басня), Eat Pineapples (Ешь ананасы), Our March (Наш марш), The Little Cloud's Tricks (Тучкины штучки), Spring (Весна), and A Humane Attitude to Horses (Хорошее отношение к лошадям) — fifteen poems by Vladimir Mayakovsky, in new English verse translations made for this show, read aloud over a gentle instrumental bed.

Себе, любимому, посвящает эти строки автор · Последняя петербургская сказка · России · Братья писатели · Революция · Подписи к плакатам издательства «Парус» · Сказка о красной шапочке · К ответу! · Нетрудно, ландышами дыша · Интернациональная басня · Ешь ананасы · Наш марш · Тучкины штучки · Весна · Хорошее отношение к лошадям

Mayakovsky.

Intermission: "Glacial Forest 2" — instrumental.

KacheliTV — Russian classics, read aloud.

An Attentive Attitude to Bribe-Takers (Внимательное отношение к взяточникам), A Monstrous Funeral (Чудовищные похороны), My Attitude to This (Мое к этому отношение), Hey! (Эй!), To All and Everything (Ко всему), Lilichka! (Лиличка!), Mockeries (Издевательства), Worthless Self-Consolation (Никчемное самоутешение), Fed Up (Надоело), The Cheap Sale (Дешевая распродажа), Gloom (Мрак), A Moonlit Night (Лунная ночь), The Next Day (Следующий день), For V. Ya. Bryusov, in Memory (В. Я. Брюсову на память), and Pine Needles (Хвои) — fifteen poems of 1915–1916 by Vladimir Mayakovsky, in new English verse translations made for this show, read aloud over a gentle instrumental bed.

Внимательное отношение к взяточникам · Чудовищные похороны · Мое к этому отношение · Эй! · Ко всему · Лиличка! · Издевательства · Никчемное самоутешение · Надоело · Дешевая распродажа · Мрак · Лунная ночь · Следующий день · В. Я. Брюсову на память · Хвои

Mayakovsky.

Intermission: "Glacial Forest 3" — instrumental.

KacheliTV — Russian classics, read aloud.

The fifteen poems, in order: Sad… The Heart's Torments (Грустно… Душевные муки); You Wept in the Evening Silence (Ты плакала в вечерней тишине); The Birch (Берёза); I Placed by Your Bedside (Я положил к твоей постели); Confession of a Suicide (Исповедь самоубийцы); To My Princess (Моей царевне); Spells (Чары); The Storm (Буря); You Left and Will Not Return to Me (Ты ушла и ко мне не вернёшься); Grandmother's Tales (Бабушкины сказки); The Little Swan (Лебёдушка); The Queen (Королева); The Reeds Rustled over the Backwater (Зашумели над затоном тростники); Trinity Morning, the Morning Canon (Троицыно утро, утренний канон); Beloved Land! My Heart Dreams (Край любимый! Сердцу снятся). By Sergei Esenin, in new English verse translations made for this show, read aloud over a gentle instrumental bed.

Esenin.

Intermission: "upload-8" — instrumental.

KacheliTV — Russian classics, read aloud.

In 1915 the young Mayakovsky turned his hymn — the most solemn form he knew — into a weapon of laughter, and sang it, with a perfectly straight face, to everything that sat in judgement on life: to the judge who ringed Peru round with paragraphs until the peacock's tail faded and the hummingbird stood shaved; to the scholar whose head a treatise on warts in Brazil had bitten clean off, and who consoled himself by extracting square roots; to Health itself, portly and loud, calling the people of flesh to dance; to the critic, milked and mothered by the newspaper sky; to Dinner, the stomach in a panama hat that no death can infect and that will tin the very stars when the last bull's neck is cut; and to the Bribe, hymned by the whole choir from the youngest yardman to the man woven through with gold. Around the hymns stand the year's other thunder: war thought over at the call-up, a poet on Bolshaya Presnya measuring himself against Napoleon, a furious address to the well-fed at the back, a destroyer family's naval romance, a man sprouting fang and tail in the street, a conductor beaten blue by his own orchestra, a trifle whispered by the reeds of the Oka, and a fortress carnival insisted, magnificently, into absurdity.

Thoughts at the Call-Up (Мысли в призыв), I and Napoleon (Я и Наполеон), To You! (Вам!), Hymn to the Judge (Гимн судье), Hymn to the Scholar (Гимн ученому), Naval Love (Военно-морская любовь), Hymn to Health (Гимн здоровью), Hymn to the Critic (Гимн критику), Hymn to Dinner (Гимн обеду), A Warm Word for Certain Vices (Теплое слово кое-каким порокам), That's How I Became a Dog (Вот так я сделался собакой), A Word About the Conductor (Кое-что по поводу дирижера), A Trifle at the Oka (Пустяк у Оки), Magnificent Absurdities (Великолепные нелепости), and Hymn to the Bribe (Гимн взятке) — fifteen poems of 1915 by Vladimir Mayakovsky, in new English verse translations made for this show, read aloud over a gentle instrumental bed.

Мысли в призыв · Я и Наполеон · Вам! · Гимн судье · Гимн ученому · Военно-морская любовь · Гимн здоровью · Гимн критику · Гимн обеду · Теплое слово кое-каким порокам · Вот так я сделался собакой · Кое-что по поводу дирижера · Пустяк у Оки · Великолепные нелепости · Гимн взятке

Mayakovsky.

Intermission: "The Longest Night by the River" — instrumental.

KacheliTV — Russian classics, read aloud.

A twenty-year-old futurist takes the city apart and puts himself back together out of its pieces. The windows smash the great city into tiny sucking hells, the motorcars rear like red-haired devils, and Noise is crowned king of the bazaars; a poet in a yellow jacket sewn from three yards of sunset saunters down the Nevsky of the world, rolling his r's on the smooth asphalt; and in the middle of the roar a quiet voice insists that if the stars are lit, it means somebody needs them — that every evening, above the rooftops, at least one star must catch fire. Then the guns of August arrive: war is declared in the evening papers, a wounded evening is dragged through the streets of Warsaw, and at the end a violin weeps in an indifferent orchestra, and the poet alone understands her, because he too shouts — and cannot prove a thing.

From Weariness (От усталости), Love (Любовь), We (Мы), Little Noises, Noises and Big Noises (Шумики, шумы и шумищи), The Great Big Hell of a City (Адище города), Take That! (Нате!), They Don't Understand a Thing (Ничего не понимают), In a Motorcar (В авто), The Dandy's Jacket (Кофта фата), Listen! (Послушайте!), And Yet (А все-таки), Petersburg Again (Ещё Петербург), War Is Declared (Война объявлена), Mama and the Evening Killed by the Germans (Мама и убитый немцами вечер), and The Violin and a Little Bit Nervous (Скрипка и немножко нервно) — fifteen early poems by Vladimir Mayakovsky, in new English verse translations made for this show, read aloud over a gentle instrumental bed.

От усталости · Любовь · Мы · Шумики, шумы и шумищи · Адище города · Нате! · Ничего не понимают · В авто · Кофта фата · Послушайте! · А все-таки · Ещё Петербург · Война объявлена · Мама и убитый немцами вечер · Скрипка и немножко нервно

Mayakovsky.

Intermission: "The River's Dying Vision" — instrumental.

KacheliTV — Russian classics, read aloud.

Night comes first: crimson and white crumpled and cast aside, ducats thrown into the green, burning yellow cards dealt into the black palms of the windows — and then morning, with its sullen rain and its kings of gaslight dying over the boulevards. A port where steamships wear anchors for earrings; streets that sharpen the faces of the years, where a conjuror pulls rails from a tram's jaws and a bald lamp undresses the street; shop signs read like iron books; theatres, a two-humped camel of a river, a moon who is the poet's wife — fifteen short thunderclaps from the first two years of the loudest voice in Russian poetry, ending with spring itself, exhausted in two lines.

Night (Ночь), Morning (Утро), The Port (Порт), Street Scene (Уличное), From Street to Street (Из улицы в улицу), And Could You? (А вы могли бы?), To Shop Signs (Вывескам), Theatres (Театры), Something About Petersburg (Кое-что про Петербург), After a Woman (За женщиной), Along the Pavement (По мостовой), A Few Words About My Wife (Несколько слов о моей жене), A Few Words About My Mama (Несколько слов о моей маме), A Few Words About Myself (Несколько слов обо мне самом), and An Exhaustive Picture of Spring (Исчерпывающая картина весны) — fifteen early poems by Vladimir Mayakovsky, in new English verse translations made for this show, read aloud over a gentle instrumental bed.

Ночь · Утро · Порт · Уличное · Из улицы в улицу · А вы могли бы? · Вывескам · Театры · Кое-что про Петербург · За женщиной · По мостовой · Несколько слов о моей жене · Несколько слов о моей маме · Несколько слов обо мне самом · Исчерпывающая картина весны

Mayakovsky.

Intermission: "Tampa Across the Water" — instrumental.

KacheliTV — Russian classics, read aloud.

Fifteen early lyric poems by Sergei Esenin (1895–1925), written in 1911–1912 — the school-notebook years, before fame — in new English verse translations made for this show, read aloud over a gentle instrumental bed. A young poet chafes inside the cold walls of his school, hears a merry song he no longer has the strength to echo, dreams of sharing other people's sorrow, and calls on his listener to stand beside Brother Man at the plough. He lights his bonfire and watches it burn down to ash and a single tear; he listens to the tumbledown village hut, where every song is a song of grief; he is told, gently and finally, to step away from the window. Then spring comes: a silvery river, a nightingale in the birches, a star burning dimly through the mist above an overgrown path. An accordion strikes up at the edge of the village, a mother walks the Kupala forest, and evening settles over the hut — the cat drowsing on the beam. The young poet defines what a poet must be, watches autumn drops slide down the windowpane, and stands, at the end, at a grave beneath the willows.

The fifteen poems, in order: My Stay at School (Пребывание в школе), A Distant Merry Song (Далёкая весёлая песня), My Dreams (Мои мечты), To Brother Man (Брату Человеку), I Lit My Bonfire (Я зажёг свой костёр), A Little Village Hut (Деревенская избёнка), Step Away from the Window (Отойди от окна), A Spring Evening (Весенний вечер), And Above Me a Star Burns (И надо мной звезда горит), Play On, Play, Little Accordion (Заиграй, сыграй, тальяночка, малиновы меха), Mother Walked in the Forest at Kupala Time (Матушка в купальницу по лесу ходила), The Evening Grew Smoky (Задымился вечер, дремлет кот на брусе), The Poet (Поэт), Drops (Капли), and In Memory of the Departed — At the Grave (На память об усопшем. У могилы) — by Sergei Esenin.

Esenin.

Intermission: "Napoli in Fiamme" — instrumental.

KacheliTV — Russian classics, read aloud.

Fifteen early lyrics by Sergei Esenin, all from 1911 — the school-notebook years, when the sixteen-year-old poet was filling copybooks with songs of grief and wonder: a life given over to suffering, a cool spring night that can never be brought back, a river slumbering silver under the moon, a sunrise, a burial, the first frosts of winter, an old robber's song of lost strength, and a blizzard addressed like a living soul. Sorrow runs through the whole set — thoughts, sounds of sorrow, tears — yet everything is seen through the eyes of a village boy for whom the river, the moon, the reeds and the snow are alive.

The fifteen poems, in order: My Life (Моя жизнь); What Is Past Cannot Return (Что прошло — не вернуть); Night — "The river quietly slumbers…" (Ночь — «Тихо дремлет река…»); Sunrise (Восход солнца); To the Dead Man (К покойнику); Winter (Зима); Song of the Old Robber (Песня старика разбойника); Night — "The weary day inclined to night…" (Ночь — «Усталый день склонился к ночи…»); I Have No Strength to Sing or Weep (Нет сил ни петь и ни рыдать); Am I to Blame That I Am a Poet (Я ль виноват, что я поэт); Thoughts (Думы); Sounds of Sorrow (Звуки печали); Tears (Слёзы); Nothing Can Be Seen Beyond the Misty Distance (Не видать за туманною далью); The Blizzard of 26 April 1912 (Вьюга на 26 апреля 1912 г.). The two poems both titled "Night" are different works, distinguished above by their opening lines. By Sergei Esenin, in new English verse translations made for this show, read aloud over a gentle instrumental bed.

Esenin.

Intermission: "The Longest Night by the River 2" — instrumental.

KacheliTV — Russian classics, read aloud.

The first fifteen lyric poems of Sergei Esenin, written in 1910–1911 when the poet was fifteen and sixteen — the school-notebook beginnings of one of Russia's most beloved lyric voices. Evening dew on the nettles and birches standing like candles; winter singing to the sparrows at the frozen window; the bird cherry scattering its blossom like snow; pilgrims walking the villages; a lost ring, a faithless lad, and Tanyusha, fairest in the village; stars questioned in the night; and an old man on the stove remembering his youth while the blizzard howls at the gate.

The fifteen poems, in order: «Вот уж вечер. Роса» (Evening Has Come. The Dew), «Там, где капустные грядки» (Where the Cabbage Beds Are), «Поёт зима — аукает» (Winter Sings — Calls Out), «Подражанье песне» (Imitation of a Song), «Выткался на озере алый свет зари» (The Scarlet Light of Dawn Wove Itself over the Lake), «Дымом половодье» (The Flood in Smoke), «Сыплет черёмуха снегом» (The Bird Cherry Scatters Snow), «Калики» (The Pilgrims), «Поэт» (The Poet), «Под венком лесной ромашки» (Beneath a Wreath of Woodland Camomile), «Тёмна ноченька, не спится» (The Night Is Dark, I Cannot Sleep), «Хороша была Танюша, краше не было в селе» (Tanyusha Was Fair), «Звёзды» (Stars), «И. Д. Рудинскому» (To I. D. Rudinsky), and «Воспоминание» (Remembrance) — by Sergei Esenin, in new English verse translations made for this show, read aloud over a gentle instrumental bed.

Esenin.

Intermission: "upload-10" — instrumental.

KacheliTV — Russian classics, read aloud.

Dobrynya and Nastasya (Добрыня и Настасья) — a bylina of old Rus', recorded from the storyteller P. L. Kalinin in 1871, in a new English translation made for this show, read aloud over a gentle instrumental bed.

Byliny.

Intermission: "Glacial Forest 3" — instrumental.

KacheliTV — Russian classics, read aloud.

Dobrynya Nikitich and Vasily Kazimirovich (Добрыня Никитич и Василий Казимирович), a bylina of the Onega tradition recorded in P. N. Rybnikov's «Песни» (from the Kizhi storyteller T. G. Ryabinin) and in A. F. Gilferding's «Онежские былины», and Dyuk Stepanovich (Дюк Степанович), recorded in the Kirsha Danilov collection «Древние российские стихотворения» as its No. 3 — in new English translations made for this show, read aloud over a gentle instrumental bed.

Byliny.

Intermission: "Calm After the Current 2" — instrumental.

KacheliTV — Russian classics, read aloud.

Alyosha Popovich and the Sister of the Petrovichi Brothers (Алёша Попович и сестра Петровичей), read from the Onega-line recording reprinted in the academic anthology «Былины» — in this recording the brothers are Luka and Matvey Petrovichi and the sister is Nastasya Petrovna — and Ivan Gostiny Syn (Иван Гостиный сын), recorded in the Kirsha Danilov collection, «Древние Российские стихотворения, собранные Киршею Даниловым», No. 8 — two byliny of old Rus', in new English translations made for this show, read aloud over a gentle instrumental bed.

Byliny.

Intermission: "3-6" — instrumental.

KacheliTV — Russian classics, read aloud.

Vasily Ignatyev (Василий Игнатьевич), recorded by A. F. Gilferding in the summer of 1871 from the storyteller Aksinya Kuzminishna Fomina and printed in his Onega Byliny as "Vasily Ignatyev and Batyga", and Khoten Bludovich (Хотен Блудович), recorded in the Kirsha Danilov collection as "Gardey Bludovich" — two byliny of old Rus', in new English translations made for this show, read aloud over a gentle instrumental bed.

Byliny.

Intermission: "2-23" — instrumental.

KacheliTV — Russian classics, read aloud.

Ilya Muromets on the Falcon Ship (Илья Муромец на Соколе-корабле) — a bylina of old Rus', from a recorded variant taken down in Vologda province at the very beginning of the 19th century, in a new English translation made for this show, read aloud over a gentle instrumental bed.

Byliny.

Intermission: "2-22" — instrumental.

KacheliTV — Russian classics, read aloud.

Three Journeys of Ilya Muromets (Три поездки Ильи Муромца), recorded by A. F. Gilferding in the Onega byliny of 1871, No. 171, and Svyatogor (Святогор), the short recorded bylina of Svyatogor and the pull of the earth — two byliny of old Rus', in new English translations made for this show, read aloud over a gentle instrumental bed.

Byliny.

Intermission: "upload-15" — instrumental.

KacheliTV — Russian classics, read aloud.

Dunai Ivanovich (Дунай Иванович) — a bylina of old Rus', recorded in Kirsha Danilov's collection (18th century) under the title "On the Marriage of Prince Vladimir", in a new English translation made for this show, read aloud over a gentle instrumental bed.

Byliny.

Intermission: "upload-11" — instrumental.

KacheliTV — Russian classics, read aloud.

Danilo Lovchanin (Данило Ловчанин) — a bylina of old Rus', recorded in Songs Collected by P. V. Kireevsky, Part 1, Issue 3 (Moscow, 1861), in a new English translation made for this show, read aloud over a gentle instrumental bed.

Byliny.

Intermission: "Three Pairs of Yellow Eyes" — instrumental.

KacheliTV — Russian classics, read aloud.

Dobrynya and Alyosha (Добрыня и Алёша) — a bylina of old Rus', recorded from the storyteller Ivan Grigorievich Zakharov in 1871, in a new English translation made for this show, read aloud over a gentle instrumental bed.

Byliny.

Intermission: "The Cello's Unfinished Promise 2" — instrumental.

KacheliTV — Russian classics, read aloud.

Ilya Muromets Quarrels with Prince Vladimir (Ссора Ильи Муромца с князем Владимиром) — a bylina of old Rus', recorded by A. F. Gilferding in 1871 («Онежские былины», No. 76, the recording titled «Илья Муромец и голи кабацкие» — Ilya Muromets and the Tavern Folk), in a new English translation made for this show, read aloud over a gentle instrumental bed.

Byliny.

Intermission: "The Cello's Unfinished Promise" — instrumental.

KacheliTV — Russian classics, read aloud.

Ilya Muromets and Idolishche Poganoye (Илья Муромец и Идолище Поганое) — a bylina of old Rus', recorded by A. F. Gilferding in 1871, in a new English translation made for this show, read aloud over a gentle instrumental bed.

Byliny.

Intermission: "Tampa Across the Water 2" — instrumental.

KacheliTV — Russian classics, read aloud.

A twelve-year-old rides out to bathe against his mother's warning — and meets the Dragon in the river; and a hero who serves nine years at the prince's table is bewitched by Marinka, and walks the field for half a year as a golden-horned aurochs.

Dobrynya and the Dragon (Добрыня и Змей), recorded in the Kirsha Danilov collection as "Dobrynya Was Bathing — the Dragon Carried Him Off", and Dobrynya and Marinka (Добрыня и Маринка), recorded in the same collection as "Three Years Dobrynyushka Served as Stolnik" — two byliny of old Rus', in new English translations made for this show, read aloud over a gentle instrumental bed.

Byliny.

Intermission: "Cypress in the Soil 2" — instrumental.

KacheliTV — Russian classics, read aloud.

At Prince Vladimir's feast a monster is carried in on a board of red gold and swallows a whole swan at a gulp — and the youngest hero at the table, the priest's son from Rostov, answers him with a joke, a wager of his own head, and a prayer for rain to soak a pair of paper wings.

Alyosha Popovich and Tugarin (Алёша Попович и Тугарин Змеевич) — a bylina of old Rus', recorded from the storyteller Terenty Ievlev in 1871, in a new English translation made for this show, read aloud over a gentle instrumental bed.

Byliny.

Intermission: "The River's Dying Vision 2" — instrumental.

KacheliTV — Russian classics, read aloud.

A Novgorod gusli-player whose catch turns to gold descends to play before the Sea Tsar beneath the waves — and a young prince with all his retinue cannot lift the plough that one ploughman raises with a single hand.

Sadko (Садко) and Volga and Mikula (Вольга и Микула) — byliny of old Rus'. Sadko is read from the Kirsha Danilov collection, the two linked songs "Sadko the Rich Guest" and "Sadko's Ship Stood Still on the Sea"; Volga and Mikula is read from A. F. Gilferding's Onega recordings of 1871, No. 156 — in new English translations made for this show, read aloud over a gentle instrumental bed.

Byliny.

Intermission: "La Rive des Esprits 2" — instrumental.

KacheliTV — Russian classics, read aloud.

For thirty years a peasant's son has sat without moving in a hut in Karacharovo — until two wandering pilgrims stop beneath his window and bid him rise, and a little cup of honeyed drink kindles a great strength in him.

The Healing of Ilya Muromets (Исцеление Ильи Муромца) — a bylina of old Rus', recorded from the storyteller Leonty Bogdanov in the Kizhi parish and published in P. N. Rybnikov's collection of 1861, in a new English translation made for this show, read aloud over a gentle instrumental bed.

Byliny.

Intermission: "Napoli in Fiamme 2" — instrumental.

KacheliTV — Russian classics, read aloud.

A giant rides asleep across the holy mountains, so great that Mother Damp Earth barely bears him — and the old Cossack Ilya Muromets, who cannot wake him with three blows of his club, is lifted by his yellow curls and carried away in the giant's pocket, horse and all.

Ilya Muromets and Svyatogor (Илья Муромец и Святогор) — a bylina of old Rus', recorded from the storyteller P. L. Kalinin in 1871, in a new English translation made for this show, read aloud over a gentle instrumental bed.

Byliny.

Intermission: "Three Pairs of Yellow Eyes 2" — instrumental.

KacheliTV — Russian classics, read aloud.

Ilya Muromets and Nightingale the Robber (Илья Муромец и Соловей-разбойник) — a bylina of old Rus', recorded from the storyteller Trofim Ryabinin in 1871, in a new English translation made for this show, read aloud over a gentle instrumental bed.

Byliny.

Intermission: "Damp Pine Sunrise" — instrumental.

KacheliTV — Russian classics, read aloud.

The tales «Баба-яга» (№№ 102–103) and «Баба-яга и жихарь» (№№ 106–107) — from the collection of Alexander Afanasyev, in new English translations made for this show, read aloud over a gentle instrumental bed.

Afanasyev.

Intermission: "The Friend's Cello" — instrumental.

KacheliTV — Russian classics, read aloud.

The tales «Арысь-поле» (№ 266) and «По щучьему веленью» (№ 167) — from the collection of Alexander Afanasyev, in new English translations made for this show, read aloud over a gentle instrumental bed.

Afanasyev.

Intermission: "The Spring Remembers" — instrumental.

KacheliTV — Russian classics, read aloud.

The tales «Косоручка» (№№ 279–282) — from the collection of Alexander Afanasyev, in new English translations made for this show, read aloud over a gentle instrumental bed.

Afanasyev.

Intermission: "The Cello's Unfinished Promise" — instrumental.

KacheliTV — Russian classics, read aloud.

The tales «Жена-доказчица» (№№ 441–443) — from the collection of Alexander Afanasyev, in new English translations made for this show, read aloud over a gentle instrumental bed.

Afanasyev.

Intermission: "Convergence at Dusk 2" — instrumental.

KacheliTV — Russian classics, read aloud.

The tales «Как муж отучил жену от сказок» (№ 448), «Рассказ о мертвеце» (№ 577), «Байка про старину стародавнюю» (№ 428) and «Алёша Попович» (№ 312) — from the collection of Alexander Afanasyev, in new English translations made for this show, read aloud over a gentle instrumental bed.

Afanasyev.

Intermission: "2-27" — instrumental.

KacheliTV — Russian classics, read aloud.

The tale «Жар-птица и Василиса-царевна» (№№ 169–170) — from the collection of Alexander Afanasyev, in new English translations made for this show, read aloud over a gentle instrumental bed.

Afanasyev.

Intermission: "2-25" — instrumental.

KacheliTV — Russian classics, read aloud.

The tale «Сивко-бурко» (№№ 179–181) — from the collection of Alexander Afanasyev, in new English translations made for this show, read aloud over a gentle instrumental bed.

Afanasyev.

Intermission: "2-23" — instrumental.

KacheliTV — Russian classics, read aloud.

Part Two picks up the Vologda telling where Part One left it: the father rides home with the little scarlet flower, taken on the stranger's condition — and his youngest daughter, who met Finist at church and loves him already, sets the flower in water, opens her window, and receives from the falcon's wing a feather that summons carriages, servants, and gowns at a wave. Three Sundays she rides to church unknown, a tsarevna in crystal and gold, betrayed only by a diamond pin forgotten in her braid; then her sisters' hidden knives cut Finist's leg, and she walks after him in iron shoes, an iron cap on her head and an iron crutch in her hand, through a forest that blackens to three cast-iron huts on hen's legs, where three Baba Yagas arm her with a golden hammer, a diamond ball, and a swift horse that feeds on glowing coals. By the blue sea, beneath the golden domes of Finist's palace, she buys sight of her sleeping husband — held under a magic pin by the tsarevna who married him — three times, and the third time the pin falls.

The Feather of Finist the Bright Falcon (Перышко Финиста ясна сокола) — from the collection of Alexander Afanasyev, in a new English translation made for this show, read aloud over a gentle instrumental bed.

Afanasyev.

Intermission: "2-24" — instrumental.

KacheliTV — Russian classics, read aloud.

An old man has three daughters, and when he rides to town the elder two ask for dresses, kerchiefs, golden earrings — but the youngest asks, three times over, for one thing only: a feather of Finist the Bright Falcon. When at last a stranger beyond the city gate sells him the feather for a thousand roubles, it strikes the floor of her chamber and becomes a beautiful tsarevich — until her sisters set sharp knives and needles in her window, and the wounded falcon flies away beyond the thrice-nine lands, leaving her his hard price: three pairs of iron shoes worn out, three cast-iron staffs broken, three stone communion loaves gnawed through. She pays it — past three old women's huts, with their gifts of a golden spindle, a golden egg, and a self-sewing needle — and buys three nights beside her sleeping love with those very treasures. And when the first telling ends, a second begins, recorded in Vologda province, in which what she asks her father for is a little scarlet flower — and at the fair a stranger will part with it only on one condition. Part One ends there, at the stranger's condition.

The Feather of Finist the Bright Falcon (Перышко Финиста ясна сокола) — from the collection of Alexander Afanasyev, in a new English translation made for this show, read aloud over a gentle instrumental bed.

Afanasyev.

Intermission: "2-22" — instrumental.

KacheliTV — Russian classics, read aloud.

Part Two picks up the tale as Ivan comes in tears to the gray wolf — and the wolf, once again, carries him where he needs to go. Over the golden railing the wolf seizes Elena the Beautiful; on the road Ivan and Elena fall in love, and the wolf saves them both by turning himself first into Elena, to win the horse with the golden mane from Tsar Afron, and then into that very horse, to win the Firebird and its golden cage from Tsar Dolmat. At the very spot where he once tore Ivan's horse in two, the wolf takes his leave. Twenty versts from home, Ivan and Elena sleep under a tree — and his elder brothers find them. What follows is murder, a threat held over Elena, thirty days of death, a raven's bargain for the water of death and the water of life, and a wedding feast interrupted by the one guest no one expected.

The Tale of Tsarevich Ivan, the Firebird and the Gray Wolf (Сказка об Иване-царевиче, жар-птице и о сером волке, № 168) — from the collection of Alexander Afanasyev, in a new English translation made for this show, read aloud over a gentle instrumental bed.

Afanasyev.

Intermission: "Cypress in the Soil" — instrumental.

KacheliTV — Russian classics, read aloud.

A Firebird with feathers of gold and eyes like eastern crystal comes night after night to Tsar Vyslav's garden and strips his beloved apple tree of its golden apples. Two elder brothers keep watch and sleep; the youngest, Ivan-tsarevich, stays awake and comes away with a single feather that lights a dark room like a multitude of candles. Sent to fetch the bird alive, Ivan reads the warning on a pillar in the open field, loses his horse to a great gray wolf — and gains the wolf himself as a helper swifter than any horse. In Tsar Dolmat's garden he takes the Firebird but cannot resist its golden cage, and is caught; in Tsar Afron's white-stone stables he takes the horse with the golden mane but cannot resist the golden bridle, and is caught again. Each captivity is forgiven only for a harder errand — and Part One ends with Ivan walking out of Afron's palace in bitter tears, bound now to fetch Elena the Beautiful.

The Tale of Tsarevich Ivan, the Firebird and the Gray Wolf (Сказка об Иване-царевиче, жар-птице и о сером волке, № 168) — from the collection of Alexander Afanasyev, in a new English translation made for this show, read aloud over a gentle instrumental bed.

Afanasyev.

Intermission: "Calm After the Current" — instrumental.

KacheliTV — Russian classics, read aloud.

Ivan-tsarevich gives his three sisters in marriage to a falcon, an eagle, and a raven, and then rides out into the world — where he finds a whole army beaten in the field, and learns that it was beaten by one warrior alone: Marya Morevna, the beautiful queen. He wins her heart and marries her, but when she rides off to war she leaves him one command — never to look into a certain closet. In the closet hangs Koschei the Deathless, bound on twelve chains, begging for water; three buckets restore his strength, he tears his chains apart, and carries Marya Morevna away. Three times Ivan steals her back, and the third time Koschei cuts him to pieces and casts the barrel into the blue sea — until his brothers-in-law, the falcon, the eagle, and the raven, sprinkle the waters of death and of life. To win her for good, Ivan must earn a heroic horse from Baba Yaga herself: three days herding her mares, with his head promised to the last empty stake if even one is lost.

Marya Morevna (Марья Моревна, № 159) — from the collection of Alexander Afanasyev, in a new English translation made for this show, read aloud over a gentle instrumental bed.

Afanasyev.

Intermission: "Wind Swept Flight" — instrumental.

KacheliTV — Russian classics, read aloud.

A stepdaughter is worked from before dawn, scolded for a broom out of place, and at last driven out in crackling winter to be married to Morozko himself, left alone under a great pine in the silent forest — where the Frost comes crackling from fir to fir and asks, three times, "Are you warm, maiden?", and her gentle answers win her fur coats, blankets, and a box of rich gifts, while her stepsisters, sent after her in envy, answer him rudely and stiffen in the snow. This episode reads both of Afanasyev's tellings of Father Frost — the long Nikolsk telling of Marfusha, and the shorter Kursk telling of Moroz Red Nose, the chest of dowry, and the little dog under the table who will not be bribed with pancakes to change her prophecy — plus Snegurushka, the granddaughter lost berry-picking in the summer forest, who refuses the bear and the wolf from her tree and trusts only the fox to carry her home.

The tales «Морозко» (№№ 95–96) and «Снегурушка и лиса» (№ 34) — from the collection of Alexander Afanasyev, in new English translations made for this show, read aloud over a gentle instrumental bed.

Afanasyev.

Intermission: "Three Pairs of Yellow Eyes" — instrumental.

KacheliTV — Russian classics, read aloud.

Three brothers shoot their arrows, and each must marry where his arrow falls. The eldest wins a prince's daughter, the second a general's — but the youngest, Ivan-tsarevich, finds his arrow in a swamp, in the teeth of a frog, and the frog will give it back only for a wedding. Yet by night the frog casts off her skin, and the tsar's tests keep turning out beyond all craft: a shirt fit for Easter Day, a loaf with tsars' cities along its sides, and a dance at the ball that conjures forests, waters, and white swans. Afanasyev's collection preserves the tale in three tellings, and this episode reads them all — the Shadrinsk telling of Elena the Beautiful and the flying carpet; the short telling of the iron boots, the spared pike, bear, falcon, and crayfish, and the egg baked into a cake; and the fullest telling, of Vasilisa the Wise, held beyond thrice-nine lands by Koschei the Deathless.

The Frog Princess (Царевна-лягушка) — from the collection of Alexander Afanasyev, in a new English translation made for this show, read aloud over a gentle instrumental bed.

Afanasyev.

Intermission: "upload-11" — instrumental.

KacheliTV — Russian classics, read aloud.

A merchant's daughter, tormented by a jealous stepmother, is sent through the dark forest to beg fire from Baba Yaga — and survives the witch's impossible tasks with the help of a tiny doll carrying her dead mother's blessing. But the fire she brings home, in a skull with burning eyes, has a judgment of its own.

Vasilisa the Beautiful (Василиса Прекрасная, No. 104) — from the collection of Alexander Afanasyev, in a new English translation made for this show, read aloud over a gentle instrumental bed.

Afanasyev.

Intermission: "Luminous Springs" — instrumental.

KacheliTV — Russian classics, read aloud.

The tales «Звери в яме» (№№ 29–30) and «Зимовье зверей» (№ 64) — from the collection of Alexander Afanasyev, in new English translations made for this show, read aloud over a gentle instrumental bed.

Afanasyev.

Intermission: "Convergence at Dusk" — instrumental.

KacheliTV — Russian classics, read aloud.

Ruslan lies dead in the empty field, his blood still, a raven circling — and Farlaf, guided by Naina, rides for Kiev with the sleeping Lyudmila and a fine, lying tale of rescue. But the Finn crosses the steppe with two pitchers — the water of death and the water of life — and a magic ring; and as the Pechenegs close around Kiev's walls, the hero rises. One dawn of battle, one touch of the ring upon a sleeping brow, a traitor's confession, a disarmed dwarf at court — and then the poet himself steps forward, in the Epilogue, to take leave of his tale, his youth, and his reader.

Ruslan and Lyudmila (Руслан и Людмила), Canto Six — by Alexander Pushkin, in a new English verse translation made for this show, read aloud over a gentle instrumental bed. The poem's epilogue closes the episode — and the poem.

Pushkin.

Intermission: "upload-12" — instrumental.

KacheliTV — Russian classics, read aloud.

Ruslan's horn sounds beneath the wizard's mountain — and when Chernomor swoops down with his club raised, the knight catches him by the beard and will not let go: two days they fly over forests, mountains and the sea's abyss, until the shorn beard hangs from Ruslan's helmet and the powerless dwarf rides home in a sack behind the saddle. In the silent palace a wild sword-blow knocks the cap of invisibility from the unseen princess, and Lyudmila lies revealed in the nets, sunk in magic sleep; the Finn's voice sends Ruslan homeward with her in his arms. On the road he watches the great Head breathe its last, finds his old rival Ratmir a happy fisherman who has forgotten glory for love — and then, in the moonlit valley, dreams a prophetic dream while Farlaf, guided by Naina, rides through the dark with his sword drawn.

Ruslan and Lyudmila (Руслан и Людмила), Canto Five — by Alexander Pushkin, in a new English verse translation made for this show, read aloud over a gentle instrumental bed.

Pushkin.

Intermission: "2-22" — instrumental.

KacheliTV — Russian classics, read aloud.

Young Ratmir rides south — and never rides on: a singing maiden on a castle wall, a bath, a feast and a moonlit kiss make him forget the quest and the captive bride entirely. Ruslan rides the other way, through autumn into winter, past heroes, witches and mermaids, and never wavers. And Lyudmila, invisible under her magic cap, wanders Chernomor's gardens unseen — until the wizard spreads his net, wears the shape of her wounded husband, and catches her at last, while somewhere beyond the walls a horn is already sounding for him.

Ruslan and Lyudmila (Руслан и Людмила), Canto Four — by Alexander Pushkin, in a new English verse translation made for this show, read aloud over a gentle instrumental bed.

Pushkin.

Intermission: "The Spring Remembers 2" — instrumental.

KacheliTV — Russian classics, read aloud.

The witch Naina flies in as a winged serpent to warn Chernomor that danger is coming — and the dwarf laughs, for his power lies in his beard, and no sword has cut it yet. In the silent palace Lyudmila tries on his cap, puts it on back-to-front, and vanishes in the mirror: invisible, she is safe. Across the sea of the dead, Ruslan rides over a battlefield of bones, finds armour but no sword fit for his hand — until, in the night fog, the dark hill breathes, sneezes, and wakes: a colossal living Head, guarding the one sword that can shear the beard, with a brother's betrayal to tell.

Ruslan and Lyudmila (Руслан и Людмила), Canto Three — by Alexander Pushkin, in a new English verse translation made for this show, read aloud over a gentle instrumental bed.

Pushkin.

Intermission: "Calm After the Current 2" — instrumental.

KacheliTV — Russian classics, read aloud.

The rivals scatter. Rogday, riding out in gloomy foreboding, hunts down the fleeing Farlaf — and finds him upside down in a muddy ditch, sword raised over the wrong man; a grey old woman on the road then points one rival toward his doom and counsels the other to go quietly home to Kiev. Ruslan rides on through the night and is attacked by an unknown horseman — and there the poem leaves the knights, mid-duel, to turn to Lyudmila: waking in Chernomor's castle, dressed by three silent maidens, wandering his enchanted garden, refusing his feasts — and at night leaping from her bed to seize the dwarf wizard by the cap while his servants carry in his mighty beard. The canto ends where the duel ends: in the waters of the Dnieper.

Ruslan and Lyudmila (Руслан и Людмила), Canto Two — by Alexander Pushkin, in a new English verse translation made for this show, read aloud over a gentle instrumental bed.

Pushkin.

Intermission: "The River's Dying Vision 2" — instrumental.

KacheliTV — Russian classics, read aloud.

The poem opens in fairy-tale country — a green oak by Lukomorye's shore, a golden chain, and a learned cat walking it day and night — then sweeps into Kiev, where Prince Vladimir feasts the wedding of his youngest daughter, Lyudmila, to the brave Ruslan, while three rival knights sit pale and silent at the table. That night, out of thunder and darkness in the bridal chamber, the wizard Chernomor carries the bride away; the Prince offers half his realm and Lyudmila's hand to whoever brings her back, four riders set out along the Dnieper — and Ruslan, riding alone, comes to a lamplit cave, where an old Finn names the abductor and tells the long tale of his own lost love, the beautiful, heartless Naina.

Ruslan and Lyudmila (Руслан и Людмила), Canto One — by Alexander Pushkin, in a new English verse translation made for this show, read aloud over a gentle instrumental bed. The episode opens with Pushkin's dedication of the poem.

Pushkin.

Intermission: "The Friend's Cello 2" — instrumental.

KacheliTV — Russian classics, read aloud.

A thrifty priest hires Balda at the market for a wage no money can pay: three flicks on the forehead at the year's end, with boiled spelt for his keep. Balda eats for four and works for seven, and as the term draws near the priest — egged on by his wife's clever counsel — sends him on an impossible errand: to collect three years' unpaid rent from the devils of the sea. By the shore Balda twists his rope, races his "little brother" the hare against the young devil, waits for a cloud to throw a stick into, and carries the grey mare between his legs — then comes home with the full sack of rent, and claims his three flicks, one, two, three.

The Tale of the Priest and of His Workman Balda (Сказка о попе и о работнике его Балде) — by Alexander Pushkin, in a new English verse translation made for this show, read aloud over a gentle instrumental bed.

Pushkin.

Intermission: "Napoli in Fiamme 2" — instrumental.

KacheliTV — Russian classics, read aloud.

A queen dies at the moment her husband comes home, and the Tsar's new wife — beautiful, proud, and jealous — trusts only her talking mirror, until the day it tells her that her stepdaughter, the gentle princess betrothed to Prince Yelisey, is fairer than she. Sent into the deep forest to die, the princess is spared by a merciful servant girl and finds shelter with seven brother-knights, but envy hunts her still, in the shape of a beggar nun bearing a golden poisoned apple. Laid in a crystal coffin among the pines, she waits — while Yelisey rides the whole world over and questions the sun, the moon, and the mighty wind to find her.

The Tale of the Dead Princess and the Seven Knights (Сказка о мёртвой царевне и о семи богатырях) — by Alexander Pushkin, in a new English verse translation made for this show, read aloud over a gentle instrumental bed.

Pushkin.

Intermission: "La Rive des Esprits 2" — instrumental.

KacheliTV — Russian classics, read aloud.

An old fisherman who has lived thirty years and three in a dugout by the blue sea catches a golden fish that speaks — and lets her go without a ransom. His wife's scolding sends him back to the shore again and again, and each granted wish only feeds the next: a new trough, a cottage, a noblewoman's estate, a tsaritsa's palace — until she demands to be mistress of the sea itself, with the golden fish as her servant, and the fish answers at last with silence.

Tsar Dadon, fierce in his youth, longs in old age only for rest — and a sage gives him a golden cockerel for his spire, a faithful watchman that crows whenever danger nears, in exchange for one promised wish. The bird keeps the peace for two years; then it crows toward the east, and army after army vanishes, until Dadon rides out himself and finds a silken tent, his two sons dead by each other's swords, and the Queen of Shamakhan stepping out to meet him. Home again, the tsar breaks his sworn word to the old sage — and the golden cockerel keeps the account.

The Tale of the Fisherman and the Fish (Сказка о рыбаке и рыбке) and The Tale of the Golden Cockerel (Сказка о золотом петушке) — by Alexander Pushkin, in new English verse translations made for this show, read aloud over a gentle instrumental bed.

Pushkin.

Intermission: "Winterstille 2" — instrumental.

KacheliTV — Russian classics, read aloud.

Shrunk to a mosquito, Prince Gvidon rides the merchants' ship to his father's court — and hears a wonder traded for a wonder: first the squirrel cracking golden nuts beneath the fir, then thirty-three knights rising out of the sea, and at last, from spiteful lips, one tale too many — of a princess with a star upon her brow. Three times the prince flies home across the water; then the Swan keeps her greatest secret no longer, and Tsar Saltan, kept from his son by three pairs of lying eyes, builds a fleet at last.

The Tale of Tsar Saltan (Сказка о царе Салтане), Part Two — by Alexander Pushkin, in a new English verse translation made for this show, read aloud over a gentle instrumental bed. Part Two completes the tale.

Pushkin.

Intermission: "Before the Pines End" — instrumental.

KacheliTV — Russian classics, read aloud.

Three sisters spin by the window at dusk; the youngest wishes aloud that she might bear the Tsar a hero — never guessing the Tsar himself is listening behind the fence. A wedding, a war, and a letter rewritten by jealous hands seal the young Tsaritsa and her baby into a barrel and cast them on the ocean — but the waves take pity, and on a bare island a swan begins to repay a kindness.

The Tale of Tsar Saltan (Сказка о царе Салтане), Part One — by Alexander Pushkin, in a new English verse translation made for this show, read aloud over a gentle instrumental bed.

Pushkin.

Intermission: "Wind Swept Flight" — instrumental.

KacheliTV — Russian classics, read aloud.

Five fables by Ivan Krylov (1769–1844), in new English verse translations made for this show, read aloud over a gentle instrumental bed.

The Miser and the Hen (Скупой и Курица, Book VI, No. 4) — A man who knows no trade at all watches his coffers fill, because his Hen lays eggs of gold. Another man would be glad to grow rich by slow degrees; the Miser wants the whole treasure at once — and cuts the Hen open to get it. Krylov's opening line tells the whole story: a miser loses all, in wishing all to gain.

The Monkey (Обезьяна, Book III, No. 6) — At dawn a Peasant ploughs his strip of land until the sweat rolls off him like hail, and everyone who passes calls out thanks and bravo. Praise is tempting, and the Monkey wants her share: she finds a heavy log and hauls it, hugs it, drags it and rolls it until sweat streams off her in rivers. No one praises her — and Krylov's opening moral explains exactly why.

The Monkey and the Glasses (Мартышка и Очки, Book I, No. 17) — Grown weak-eyed with age, the Monkey hears from men that the trouble is easily cured: she has only to get some Glasses. She gets half a dozen pairs — and presses them to her crown, strings them on her tail, sniffs them and licks them. The Glasses do not work at all, and in spite and grief she smashes them on a stone. Krylov's closing moral is for every ignorant judge of a useful thing.

The Monkeys (Обезьяны, Book I, No. 14) — In Africa a whole troop of Monkeys sits in a thick tree, secretly watching a hunter tumble and roll in his nets on the grass. What a clever fellow — head over heels, then curled in a ball so tight you cannot see his hands or feet! The beauties cannot resist trying it themselves once he leaves the nets behind. Krylov's opening moral warns what copying without sense can cost.

The Mosquito and the Shepherd (Комар и Пастух, Book V, No. 9) — A Shepherd sleeps in the shade, trusting his dogs, while a Snake crawls toward him with her sting out. In pity, a tiny Mosquito bites the sleeper with all his strength and wakes him in time to kill the Snake. Half-asleep, the Shepherd strikes first at the one who saved him. Krylov's closing moral is for every weak truth-teller who moves a stronger man.

Krylov Fables.

Intermission: "Before the Pines End 2" — instrumental.

KacheliTV — Russian classics, read aloud.

Five fables by Ivan Krylov (1769–1844), in new English verse translations made for this show, read aloud over a gentle instrumental bed.

The Mice (Мыши, Book IX, No. 3) — Aboard ship, one Mouse tells her sister the hull is leaking and the water has nearly reached her snout — though in truth she has only wet her paws. The captain is drunk, the sailors are lazy, the ship will not last an hour: her remedy is to leap into the Ocean at once. The ship, meanwhile, is guided by a skilful hand.

The Miller (Мельник, Book VII, No. 2) — The water has eaten a small leak through the Miller's dam — a trifle, if he would put his hands to it. Instead he sleeps while the leak runs like a bucket, until the millstone stops altogether; then, groaning over his vanishing water, he drives off the hens who came to drink. Krylov's closing stanza is a present for every gentleman who wastes thousands and saves candle-stubs.

Miron (Мирон, Book VIII, No. 14) — The neighbours say Miron has a million in his casket and never gives the poor a kopek. To mend his name, he lets it be known he will feed beggars every Saturday — and the gates stand open, because on Saturdays the fierce dogs are off the chain. Soon Miron is almost a saint: such a pity about the dogs.

The Mirror and the Monkey (Зеркало и Обезьяна, Book V, No. 8) — Seeing her own face in the Mirror, the Monkey nudges the Bear: what a mug, what grimaces — she would hang herself if she looked like that, though she can name five or six gossips who do. The Bear suggests she turn the counting on herself. Krylov closes with Klimych, who hears a reading about his own bribes and slyly nods at Peter.

The Miser (Скупой, Book VII, No. 18) — A house-spirit, ordered away for many years, must find a guard for his buried treasure. Hiring a keeper is costly, so he entrusts the gold to his master the Miser — drink, eat, spend freely; only at the Miser's death does the Spirit inherit. A decade or two later the Spirit returns home to a delightful sight, and a watchman who cost him not a penny.

Krylov Fables.

Intermission: "3-6" — instrumental.

KacheliTV — Russian classics, read aloud.

Five fables by Ivan Krylov (1769–1844), in new English verse translations made for this show, read aloud over a gentle instrumental bed.

The Little Raft (Плотичка, Book VII, No. 5) — Krylov opens with a moth circling a candle, then warns how a "mere frolic" hardens into habit, passion, and vice. His example is a quick, sly little roach who spins round the fishermen's hooks, strips the bait, and laughs at them — until, boasting she sees through every trick, she dashes at the hooks once too often and is caught on the third.

The Man with Three Wives (Троеженец, Book I, No. 20) — A sinner marries two more wives while the first still lives, and the stern Tsar orders his judges to invent a punishment so terrible that no one will ever dare it again — on pain of the judges themselves being hanged. After three days of cold-sweat deliberation, the court sentences him to keep all three wives. The realm takes the lesson to heart.

The Master and the Mice (Хозяин и Мыши, Book III, No. 3) — Krylov's opening moral warns: if goods are stolen and the thief is unknown, do not punish everyone. A merchant staffs his storehouses with a police of cats, but when one watch-cat turns thief, he orders every cat whipped — honest and guilty alike flee the yard, and the mice finish the stock in a fortnight.

The Mechanic (Механик, Book IV, No. 9) — A young man buys a splendid, solid old house with one flaw: it stands too far from the water. Enchanted by mechanics, he plans to drag the whole house to the river on rollers — feasting inside with friends and music as it travels, like a carriage. He hires workmen, digs beneath the foundations, spares no expense, and achieves exactly one thing.

The Merchant (Купец, Book VIII, No. 11) — Boasting to his nephew, a merchant tells how he just passed off a length of old, damp, rotten Polish cloth as English cloth and pocketed a hundred for it — "God sent a simpleton." The nephew looks closer at the banknote: it is counterfeit. Krylov's closing lines find the same single reckoning far above the shops.

Krylov Fables.

Intermission: "2-21" — instrumental.

KacheliTV — Russian classics, read aloud.

Five fables by Ivan Krylov (1769–1844), in new English verse translations made for this show, read aloud over a gentle instrumental bed.

The Lion and the Mosquito (Лев и Комар, Book III, No. 9) — The Lion treats a Mosquito with dry disdain, and the tiny warrior declares war: trumpet, sting and all. He drinks the Lion's blood from the Lion's own brow while the whole forest trembles at the Lion's roar — until the king of beasts crashes to the ground and begs for peace. Krylov's opening moral warns you never to laugh at the powerless.

The Lion and the Mouse (Лев и Мышь, Book IX, No. 9) — A Mouse humbly asks leave to make her home in a hollow near the Lion, and dares to suggest that even she might one day be of use to him. The Lion drives her off in scorn — then falls into a hunter's snare, where all his strength and roaring are useless and his own haughtiness devours him. The closing proverb is the famous one: do not spit in the well.

The Lion and the Wolf (Лев и Волк, Book V, No. 14) — At the Lion's breakfast, a little Dog snatches a morsel from beneath his claws, and the King of Beasts lets it pass — she is young and foolish. The Wolf sees it and concludes the Lion cannot be strong at all, so he reaches for the lamb too. The Lion's answer makes the difference between a pup and a grown wolf very clear.

The Lion at the Hunt (Лев на ловле, Book IV, No. 16) — A Dog, a Lion, a Wolf and a Fox swear a solemn covenant: hunt together, and share everything equally. When the Fox catches a stag, the Lion tears it into four equal parts — and then explains, portion by portion, why every part is his. This is the fable that gave the world the phrase "the lion's share."

The Lion, the Chamois, and the Fox (Лев, Серна и Лиса, Book VIII, No. 2) — The Lion all but has the Chamois when she leaps a deep ravine and lands safe on the rock beyond. His friend the Fox knows just what to say — with his strength and lightness, surely he can jump it too. The Lion's blood boils, he leaps, and his dear friend holds his funeral feast in the ravine for a month.

Krylov Fables.

Intermission: "Tampa Across the Water" — instrumental.

KacheliTV — Russian classics, read aloud.

Five fables by Ivan Krylov (1769–1844), in new English verse translations made for this show, read aloud over a gentle instrumental bed.

The Leaves and the Roots (Листы и Корни, Book IV, No. 2) — On a fine summer day the Leaves, whispering with the zephyrs, boast that they alone are the valley's pride: they shade the shepherd, draw the shepherd girls to dance, and host the nightingale. Then a humble voice answers from underground — the Roots, burrowing in darkness, who feed them all, and who have one difference to point out about spring.

The Liar (Лжец, Book II, No. 13) — Home from distant travels, a nobleman tells his friend of a paradise where no one sows or plants — and of a cucumber he saw in Rome, truly as big as a mountain. His friend replies with a wonder of his own: the bridge ahead, which no liar can cross. Watch the cucumber shrink, step by step, as the bridge comes nearer.

The Lion (Лев, Book VIII, No. 22) — Grown feeble and old, the Lion finds his stony bed too hard and asks his boyars — the Bears and Wolves — how to gather wool without burdening rich or poor. Their zeal is boundless: they seize the stags, goats and does, shave them clean to the skin, keep every hair of their own, and stock themselves mattresses for the winter out of the same tribute.

The Lion and the Fox (Лев и Лисица, Book V, No. 17) — A Fox who has never seen a Lion meets him once, and is left scarce alive with fright. She meets him a second time, and he seems not quite so terrible. The third time, she falls into conversation with him. Krylov's two-line moral is for everything we fear at a distance.

The Lion and the Leopard (Лев и Барс, Book II, No. 2) — Tired of their long war over the disputed woods, the Lion and the Leopard agree to settle by law and appoint secretaries. The Leopard names his honest Cat — and warmly urges the Lion to name the Donkey, praising the beast above the Lion's whole court. The Lion approves the plan, and sends the Fox instead, murmuring a proverb the world taught him.

Krylov Fables.

Intermission: "La Partenza" — instrumental.

KacheliTV — Russian classics, read aloud.

Five fables by Ivan Krylov (1769–1844), in new English verse translations made for this show, read aloud over a gentle instrumental bed.

The Hunter (Охотник, Book VI, No. 8) — Krylov opens with the motto of every procrastinator: "Time enough!" A hunter sets out with his gun, his pouch, and his faithful Hector — but not with a loaded gun; loading can wait, the road is quiet, the place is an hour away. Then, just outside his door, a whole flock of ducks is strolling on the lake, and his fumbling with the charge gives them exactly the warning they need.

The Kettle and the Pot (Котёл и Горшок, Book VII, No. 13) — A clay Pot and a cast-iron Kettle are inseparable friends, bored apart even at the fire. When the Kettle fancies a tour of the world, the Pot rides beside him in the same cart over the jolting pavement — a trifle for cast iron, but not for clay. The Kettle comes home whole; of the Pot, only shards arrive. Krylov's closing couplet is the simplest thought in the world, and the whole fable is in it.

The Kitten and the Starling (Котёнок и Скворец, Book VII, No. 22) — A Starling, a terrible singer but a most eminent philosopher, befriends a quiet, polite, meek Kitten — and, finding him hungry and passed over at table, undertakes his education: conscience, he explains, is a prejudice of feeble souls; the strong may do whatever they will. The first lesson ends with the goldfinch in the cage above the Kitten's nose. The second lesson is shorter, and the teacher does not survive it.

The Knight (Рыцарь, Book V, No. 11) — A Knight of old arms himself against sorcerers and ghosts, and before mounting makes a magnificent speech to his horse: cross fields and mountains, find the temple of glory, and when the Karachuns are quelled, the Chinese princess won, and two or three kingdoms conquered, there shall be a palace of a stable, flooded meadows, barley for feed and mead for drink. Then he leaps into the saddle, drops the reins — and the horse, who has never been anywhere, carries him straight home to the stall.

The Lamb (Ягнёнок, Book VI, No. 25) — Krylov addresses the beauties first: a good name is tenderer than a spring flower, and one careless glance can give slander its opening. Then, for little Anna and her friends, the tale itself: a Lamb puts on a wolf's skin just to show off among the flock, and the sheepdogs, taking him for a wolf out of the forest, nearly tear him to pieces — he drags himself home and pines away, groaning his whole life. He would have feared even the thought of seeming a wolf, had he been wise.

Krylov Fables.

Intermission: "Napoli in Fiamme" — instrumental.

KacheliTV — Russian classics, read aloud.

Five fables by Ivan Krylov (1769–1844), in new English verse translations made for this show, read aloud over a gentle instrumental bed.

The Hardworking Bear (Трудолюбивый Медведь, Book VI, No. 23) — A Bear watches a peasant bend cart-bows and sell them at a profit, and resolves to live by the same trade. Soon the forest rings with cracking hazel, birch, and elm — a countless score of trees ruined, and not one bow bent. He goes to the peasant to ask where the chief skill lies, and gets a one-word answer.

The Hare on the Hunt (Заяц на ловле, Book II, No. 15) — The beasts catch a bear together and divide him on the open field — and there is the Hare, tugging at the bear's ear, though no one saw him at the hunt. His defence is magnificent: who frightened the bear out of the forest and drove him straight to them, if not he? The boasting is blatant, but so funny that he gets his scrap of ear.

The Hermit and the Bear (Пустынник и Медведь, Book IV, No. 11) — A lonely hermit befriends a great bear, and the two become inseparable. On a hot day's walk the hermit lies down to sleep while his friend stands guard — and a fly settles on the sleeper's nose, then his cheek, then his nose again. Krylov's opening moral is the famous one: an obliging fool is more dangerous than an enemy.

The Hop (Хмель, Book V, No. 18) — Twined around a dry garden stake, the Hop mocks the young oak standing in the field: rough, ill-coloured, good for nothing. Within the week the master breaks the stake for firewood and transplants the oak into the garden — and the Hop is suddenly twining around the oak instead, full of praise. Krylov closes with the flatterer, who slanders you until you rise.

The Horse and the Rider (Конь и Всадник, Book IV, No. 17) — A rider trains his horse to obey his voice alone, and, delighted with himself, rides out with the bridle removed. The horse feels his freedom by degrees — a playful step, then hot blood and a flashing eye — throws his rider, and dashes himself to death in a ravine. The closing moral weighs freedom itself: alluring, but fatal without reasonable measure.

Krylov Fables.

Intermission: "The Friend's Cello" — instrumental.

KacheliTV — Russian classics, read aloud.

Five fables by Ivan Krylov (1769–1844), in new English verse translations made for this show, read aloud over a gentle instrumental bed.

Golik (Голик, Book VII, No. 16) — A dirty, worn-out broom — a golik — is suddenly promoted: no more kitchen floors for him, he is put in charge of beating the master's fine caftans. He threshes away with all his might, and the harder he cleans, the more spots he leaves. Krylov's closing moral is for every ignoramus who takes to correcting learned men's work.

The Good Fox (Добрая Лисига, Book IV, No. 19) — A marksman shoots a robin in spring and leaves her three nestlings orphaned, hungry, and cold. The Fox, seated on a stone before the nest, delivers a tender sermon to the birds: let the Cuckoo give feathers, the Lark fetch food, the Dove sit in the mother's place, the Swallow and Nightingale do their parts. The chicks, mid-sermon, tumble down to her — and she does not even finish the sermon.

The Gout and the Spider (Подагра и Паук, Book V, No. 16) — Hell's two children are sent out to divide the earth: the Spider claims the splendid palaces, the Gout chooses humble village huts, far from doctors. In the palace every web is swept away by brush and broom; in the village the Gout is worked half to death by a peasant who ploughs, mows, and chops with her. Brother and sister trade places — and both, Krylov concludes, do wisely.

The Grasshopper and the Ant (Стрекоза и Муравей, Book II, No. 12) — Krylov's most famous fable. The Grasshopper has sung the whole red summer away; winter rolls in, the field is dead, and hungry and cold she crawls to the Ant to beg food and shelter till spring. "Did you work in the summer?" — "I sang, without a soul, all summer long." — "You sang? Then off you go — and dance!"

The Grove and the Fire (Роща и Огонь, Book I, No. 11) — A little Fire, forgotten by travellers, is dying under a winter Grove, and makes a splendid offer: "I am the sun's own brother — give me a corner, and you shall green in winter as in spring." The bargain is struck, flame runs from branch to branch, and where a traveller once found shade on hot days only charred stumps remain. Krylov opens with the moral: choose your friends with care.

Krylov Fables.

Intermission: "Before the Pines End" — instrumental.

KacheliTV — Russian classics, read aloud.

Five fables by Ivan Krylov (1769–1844), in new English verse translations made for this show, read aloud over a gentle instrumental bed.

The Funeral (Похороны, Book VI, No. 22) — In ancient Egypt, hired mourning-women wail behind a rich man's coffin, loud enough to break your heart. A passing traveller-magician offers to raise the dead man on the spot. They beg him to do it — with one small favour attached: in five days' time, the gentleman must die again.

The Gardener and the Philosopher (Огородник и Философ, Book III, No. 10) — A sturdy gardener digs fifty cucumber beds in a spring morning; his neighbour, a half-taught Philosopher, mocks him for knowing no science, then settles down to read up whether beds are best dug with spade, hoe, or plough. One of them ends the summer with a profit. The other ends it without cucumbers.

The Geese (Гуси, Book III, No. 15) — Driven to market with a long switch, a flock of Geese accosts a passer-by: the peasant owes them reverence, for their noble line descends from the Geese that once saved Rome, and feasts are held in their honour. The passer-by has read it all. He asks one question only: what use have you brought?

The Godless (Безбожники, Book I, No. 21) — An ancient people, hardened to the shame of all the tribes of earth, takes up bows and slings against the gods themselves: heaven's court is harsh and senseless, and stones from the nearby hills can surely reach Olympus. All Olympus begs Zeus for a small miracle. Jupiter answers: "Let us wait."

The Gold Coin (Червонец, Book I, No. 19) — Krylov opens with enlightenment itself: a good thing, he says, unless the polishing strips away more than the roughness. Then a simple peasant finds a dirty gold coin, is offered three handfuls of small change for it, and decides to make it shine like fire first — with sand, grit, chalk, and a brick.

Krylov Fables.

Intermission: "The River's Dying Vision" — instrumental.

KacheliTV — Russian classics, read aloud.

Five fables by Ivan Krylov (1769–1844), in new English verse translations made for this show, read aloud over a gentle instrumental bed.

The Fox and the Grapes (Лисица и Виноград, Book VI, No. 17) — A hungry Fox slips into a garden where the grape clusters redden like rubies — but they hang too high. An hour of striving brings her nothing, and she walks away with the most famous consolation in all fable: to look at, they are fine, but green — not a berry ripe. The eye sees it; the tooth cannot reach it.

The Fox Builder (Лиса-Строитель, Book V, No. 24) — The Lion's hens keep vanishing, so he commissions a grand new hen-yard, and the contract goes to the Fox, a noted mistress of building. The finished yard is a marvel — feed underfoot, perches everywhere, shelter from cold and heat — and the Lion pays her richly. Yet hour by hour the hens grow fewer, behind a fence no thief could possibly breach.

The Frog and Jupiter (Лягушка и Юпитер, Book V, No. 23) — A marsh Frog moves up the mountain in spring and sets up her little house in a damp dell — but summer dries her estate until flies stroll across it on dry feet. She begs the gods to flood the whole earth level with the hill so her water never fails, and ends by scolding Jupiter himself for having neither pity nor sense. Jupiter's answer is short, and Krylov's closing moral is for everyone who would let the whole world burn.

The Frog and the Ox (Лягушка и Вол, Book I, No. 6) — On the meadow a Frog sees an Ox and, green with envy, sets out to match him bulk for bulk. "Look, shall I be as big as he?" — "No, gossip, far from it." She puffs and puffs, asks again, puffs again — and ends exactly as you fear. Krylov's closing quatrain aims her fate at every small soul aping a grand one.

The Frogs Seeking a Ruler (Лягушки, просящие Царя, Book II, No. 1) — The Frogs tire of ruling themselves and beg the gods for a King. Zeus sends one who crashes down so hard the marsh kingdom shakes — an aspen log, grave, silent, and huge. In three days they are sitting on him, and petitioning for a real king "for glory." Jupiter obliges with a Crane, whose breakfast, dinner, and supper are all the same trial — and the voice from heaven has the last word.

Krylov Fables.

Intermission: "La Rive des Esprits" — instrumental.

KacheliTV — Russian classics, read aloud.

Five fables by Ivan Krylov (1769–1844), in new English verse translations made for this show, read aloud over a gentle instrumental bed.

Fortuna Comes to Visit (Фортуна в гостях, Book V, No. 26) — Three brothers in a tumbledown house blame Fortune for everything — until she comes, unseen, to stay the whole summer and help them in all they do. One grows rich as Croesus, one rises in rank; the third spends the summer catching flies, and never misses one. Krylov's opening moral tells you who to blame.

Fortune and the Beggar (Фортуна и Нищий, Book V, No. 22) — A beggar with a tattered sack marvels that the rich, up to their throats in gold, are never full. Fortune offers him a sackful of gold coins on one condition: whatever falls from the sack to the floor turns to rubbish. The sack is old. The beggar keeps asking for one pinch more.

The Fox (Лиса, Book IX, No. 4) — Drinking at an ice-hole in hard frost, a Fox freezes the tip of her splendid golden tail to the ice. The remedy is simple — a sharp tug and a pinch of hairs — but who would spoil such a tail? She waits for the thaw, and the people, to wake. The Wolf's rescue, when it comes, is simpler still.

The Fox and the Marmot (Лисица и Сурок, Book II, No. 10) — Exiled from her judgeship in the henhouse "for bribes," the Fox pours out her innocence to the Marmot: she under-ate, under-slept, and all of it slander. The Marmot believes nearly all of it — he has only often noticed the fluff upon her snout. Krylov's closing stanza aims the same line at every sighing official who somehow builds a house.

The Fox and the Donkey (Лисица и Осёл, Book VII, No. 9) — Fresh from the Lion, the Donkey reports that the king of beasts lies frail in his cave while every passer-by settles old scores — one with his teeth, one with his horns. Did the Donkey dare touch him? "What have I to fear? I kicked him too!" Krylov's moral is for everyone who finds his courage only after the mighty fall.

Krylov Fables.

Intermission: "Santa Fe Springs 2" — instrumental.

KacheliTV — Russian classics, read aloud.

Five fables by Ivan Krylov (1769–1844), in new English verse translations made for this show, read aloud over a gentle instrumental bed.

The Fire and the Diamond (Пожар и Алмаз, Book IV, No. 10) — Born of a single spark, the Fire spreads over the rooftops at midnight and mocks the lost Diamond glimmering in the dust of the road: who can even see you, beside my blaze? The Diamond's quiet answer is the whole fable — it harms no one, and its light annoys only envy.

Fish Dances (Рыбьи пляски, Book VII, No. 25) — Tired of complaints against judges, the powerful, and the rich, the Lion inspects his own domains — and finds a peasant frying fish. The "elders of the water people," the peasant assures him, are dancing for joy at the royal visit; the fish, meanwhile, are thrashing in the pan. One of Krylov's sharpest satires, in the autograph text the censors never let him print.

The Flowers (Цветы, Book IV, No. 12) — In a rich man's window, artificial flowers in painted porcelain pots sway beside living ones — until a drizzle begins, and the taffeta blooms beg Jupiter to stop the rain. Zeus ignores them; the living flowers open fresher than ever, and the false ones are thrown into the yard like rubbish. True talents, Krylov closes, do not fear the rain.

The Fly and the Bee (Муха и Пчела, Book VII, No. 10) — Rocking on a stem in the spring garden, the Fly pities the Bee her toil: balls, weddings, porcelain dishes, crystal glasses — that is a life! The Bee has heard the other half of the story — how the Fly is frowned at, and driven out in shame. The Fly's reply is immortal: chase me out of the window, and I'll fly in at another.

The Fly and the Travelers (Муха и Дорожные, Book III, No. 17) — A coach-and-four sticks fast in the sand on a July noon; the horses are spent, the family crawls out, and a Fly appoints herself to the rescue — buzzing, darting, sitting on the coachman's box — while the horses, step by step, do all the work. Her farewell speech, and Krylov's three-line moral, are for busy people everywhere.

Krylov Fables.

Intermission: "The Longest Night by the River 2" — instrumental.

KacheliTV — Russian classics, read aloud.

Five fables by Ivan Krylov (1769–1844), in new English verse translations made for this show, read aloud over a gentle instrumental bed.

The Elephant in Command (Слон на воеводстве, Book II, No. 22) — The Elephant is made Governor of the forest: high in rank, strong, kind of heart — and not too clever. When the sheep petition him that the wolves are flaying them alive, he thunders at the robbers… and then hears their side of the story.

The Elephant in Favor (Слон в случае, Book V, No. 19) — The Elephant has found favour at the Lion's court, and the whole forest sets to guessing how: the Fox is sure it is the tail, the Bear the claws, the Ox the tusks. The Ass, flapping his long ears, believes he has guessed it.

The Falcon and the Worm (Сокол и Червяк, Book VIII, No. 8) — The Falcon, strong on the wing, mocks the Worm from the height: what good was all that toil to climb so high, to bend with the branch wherever the weather bids? The Worm's answer is the small creature's whole philosophy of life.

The False Accusation (Напраслина, Book V, No. 25) — A Brahmin — fervent in word, lax in deed — is caught baking an egg on a candle in the middle of a fast, and lays the blame on the Devil. But someone small was watching from behind the stove, and learned the lesson rather differently.

The Fastidious Bride (Разборчивая невеста, Book I, No. 7) — She wanted a groom handsome, clever, honoured and young, with everything a groom could have — who would love her, yet never dare be jealous. The suitors rolled up in crowds, and her taste was finer than all of them. Krylov watches the years do their quiet arithmetic.

Krylov Fables.

Intermission: "Wind Swept Flight" — instrumental.

KacheliTV — Russian classics, read aloud.

Five fables by Ivan Krylov (1769–1844), in new English verse translations made for this show, read aloud over a gentle instrumental bed.

The Eagle and the Mole (Орёл и Крот, Book III, No. 21) — An Eagle scorns a Mole's warning that the oak he has chosen for his nest is rotten at the root — what business have Moles with the affairs of the tsar of birds? Krylov's moral stands at the head: despise no one's counsel — but weigh it first.

The Eagle and the Spider (Орёл и Паук, Book III, No. 18) — On a hundred-year-old cedar above the Caucasus, the Eagle thanks Zeus that no height is barred to him — and a Spider, basking above his very head, asks him not to lord it. The Spider rode up on the Eagle's tail; a single gust of wind settles the argument.

The Ear of Wheat (Колос, Book VI, No. 20) — A little Ear of Wheat, open to storms and drought in the open field, envies the hothouse flower behind its glass and demands the same care from the farmer. The farmer's reply is Krylov at his kindest and firmest: had he followed the advice, there would be no flowers — and no bread.

The Education of the Lion (Воспитание Льва, Book III, No. 12) — The old Lion rejects tutor after tutor for his son — the Fox lies, the Mole is a mighty beast for petty things, the Leopard knows no statecraft — and sends the cub to the Eagle, a tsar to teach a tsar. The prince comes home a master of ornithology, ready to teach the beasts to build nests.

The Elephant and the Pug-Dog (Слон и Моська, Book III, No. 4) — The famous one. They lead an Elephant through the streets, and a little Pug dashes out to bark at him fit to burst. Her neighbour begs her to stop disgracing herself; the Pug's answer is the whole point: without any fight at all, she can get herself counted among great brawlers.

Krylov Fables.

Intermission: "The Longest Night by the River" — instrumental.

KacheliTV — Russian classics, read aloud.

Five fables by Ivan Krylov (1769–1844), in new English verse translations made for this show, read aloud over a gentle instrumental bed.

The Donkey (Осёл, Book VIII, No. 13) — A peasant's Donkey was so meek and honest that his master could not praise him enough — so, to keep him safe in the woods, he hung a bell around his neck. The honour goes straight to the Donkey's head: a great lord now! But a bell, like a high rank hung on a rogue, tells the whole world exactly where to find him. (Not to be confused with the young Donkey of Episode Eight, who begged Jupiter for stature.)

The Donkey and the Nightingale (Осёл и Соловей, Book II, No. 23) — The Donkey has heard that the Nightingale is a great master of singing, and demands a concert so that he may judge for himself. All nature falls silent for the music — breezes, bird choirs, the very flocks — and then the critic rises to deliver his verdict: really not bad at all; a pity the singer never took a few lessons from the barnyard rooster. Krylov's closing line is a prayer.

The Donkey and the Peasant (Осёл и Мужик, Book VI, No. 11) — A peasant hires a Donkey of the most honest rules to guard his kitchen garden from the crows and sparrows. The Donkey steals not a single leaf, spares not a single bird — and in the chase tramples every bed in the garden flat. Everyone blames the Donkey. Krylov's closing lines ask a quieter question: who set him to guard a garden?

The Eagle and the Bee (Орёл и Пчела, Book II, No. 14) — Krylov's moral stands at the head for once: happy the famous labourer, but no less honoured the hidden one whose single thought is the common benefit. Then the Eagle, who scatters fear beneath the clouds, pities the little Bee: thousands of you mould the combs all summer — and who will ever tell your work from the rest? The Bee's answer is the quiet crown of the whole episode.

The Eagle and the Hens (Орёл и Куры, Book I, No. 22) — The King of Birds swoops down from the birthplace of lightning to rest a moment on a humble drying-barn, and the crested hen explains it all to her neighbour: Eagles are plainly no better than hens — did they not just see one flying low? The Eagle replies in two lines that have flown ever since, and Krylov closes with his rule for judging talent.

Krylov Fables.

Intermission: "Luminous Springs" — instrumental.

KacheliTV — Russian classics, read aloud.

The Dog (Собака, Book III, No. 20) — A squire's Dog wants for nothing, yet steals every piece of meat she can reach, and no beating cures her. The master's friend sees the flaw in the discipline at once: beat her less, he says — but never let her keep the theft.

The Dog and the Horse (Собака и Лошадь, Book VIII, No. 16) — Barbos the yard dog holds forth: the Horse is a fine lady indeed — haul or plough, what merit is that next to a guardian who never rests, watching the herd by day and the house by night? The Horse's answer closes the debate in four lines.

Dog's Friendship (Собачья дружба, Book II, No. 5) — Polkan and Barbos, sunning themselves beneath the kitchen window, discourse on friendship and swear to be Orestes and Pylades to each other for ever — embraces, kisses, one soul between them. Then the cook, as ill luck would have it, throws a bone out of the kitchen.

The Dog, the Man, the Cat, and the Falcon (Собака, Человек, Кошка и Сокол, Book V, No. 15) — Four companions swear an eternal friendship — unflattering, sincere, pure of heart: one house, one table, and death for one another if need be. On the hunt a bear bursts out of the wood, and the vow is tested on the spot. Krylov's moral is for everyone who was ever rescued — and then left.

The Donkey (Осёл, Book I, No. 16) — When Jupiter was peopling the world, the Donkey came out near as small as a squirrel — and nobody noticed him. Stung, he begs the Cloud-compeller for stature, day after day, until Zeus grants him a huge frame and a voice to match. Krylov's closing couplet weighs rank and breeding against the soul.

Krylov Fables.

Intermission: "Santa Fe Springs 2" — instrumental.

KacheliTV — Russian classics, read aloud.

The Curious (Любопытный, Book IV, No. 15) — Three hours inside the Kunstkamera: butterflies, beetles, and ladybirds smaller than a pinhead, all catalogued in endless rapture — until his friend asks the one simple question: and did you see the elephant?

Demian's Fish Soup (Демьянова уха, Book V, No. 1) — Demian's ukha is cooked to glory, and no guest shall escape it: plate follows plate and spoon follows spoon while poor Foka sweats, and eats, and eats again — and Krylov's closing words are addressed to writers who do not know when to stop.

The Divers (Водолазы, Book V, No. 4) — An ancient king, tormented by the question whether learning does more harm than good, puts it to councils and assemblies and receives no answer — until a grey-bearded hermit, met in a field, replies with a parable: three brothers who went down to the sea for pearls, each choosing his own depth.

Division (Раздел, Book II, No. 6) — The trade is done and the partners are dividing the profits when the cry goes up: fire in the house! But nobody stirs — first pay out my thousand, first settle my two — and the reckoning is still unfinished when the smoke closes over them all.

The Doe and the Dervish (Лань и Дервиш, Book III, No. 19) — A young doe who has lost her own fawns suckles two wolf-cubs in the forest; the dervish warns her whose blood those cubs may one day spill. Her answer, and Krylov's closing stanza, say what true kindness is.

Krylov Fables.

Intermission: "Luminous Springs" — instrumental.

KacheliTV — Russian classics, read aloud.

The Crow and the Fox (Ворона и Лисица, Book I, No. 1) — Krylov opens with the moral: flattery is a filthy thing, sweet poison dressed as gain — yet every heart keeps one little corner for the flatterer. Then Heaven sends a Crow a piece of cheese, and a Fox passing under her spruce smells it, and begins to pour out praise: what a neck, what eyes, what feathers — and surely an angel's voice. The prophet-bird needs only open her beak to sing.

The Crow and the Hen (Ворона и Курица, Book I, No. 4) — Moscow, 1812: as Kutuzov sets his snare for the invader and the whole city pours out of the walls like bees from a hive, one Crow sits calm on her rooftop and declines the road. Crows, she reasons, are neither roasted nor boiled — she will rub along with the guests, and perhaps even feast on a cheese or a bone. But when Smolensk begins to starve his guests with hunger, she finds herself inside their soup at last.

The Cuckoo and the Dove (Кукушка и Горлинка, Book VI, No. 2) — The Cuckoo cuckoos in sorrow on her bough: she loved, she became a mother — and her children will not know her at all. Is that the payment she had hoped for? The gentle Dove suffers for her, but asks one question: when did you ever build a nest? "What nonsense — I always laid my eggs in other birds' nests." Krylov's closing lesson is addressed to fathers and mothers.

The Cuckoo and the Eagle (Кукушка и Орёл, Book VIII, No. 6) — The Eagle, by decree, grants the Cuckoo the rank of Nightingale. Perched in state on her aspen, she sets out to display her musical talents — and the whole forest flies off, laughing and scolding. Her complaint reaches the Eagle, and his answer is the fable's moral: a king can command the birds to honor a Cuckoo as a Nightingale; he cannot make a Nightingale out of a Cuckoo.

The Cuckoo and the Rooster (Кукушка и Петух, Book IX, No. 10) — "How grandly you sing!" — "And you, my light, how smooth and long your note!" The Cuckoo and the Rooster praise each other to the skies — a voice pure as a nightingale's, a singer better than the bird of Paradise — until a Sparrow chances by and tells them plainly: praise each other hoarse if you like, your music is bad. Krylov's closing lines explain why the Cuckoo praises the Rooster.

Krylov Fables.

Intermission: "Damp Pine Sunrise" — instrumental.

KacheliTV — Russian classics, read aloud.

The Comb (Гребень, Book VI, No. 3) — A little boy adores his fine new comb: it glides through his golden curls and never pulls. Then the comb is lost for a day, the curls are tangled into a mop, and the very same comb suddenly "tears." Its answer — and Krylov's closing moral about truth — tells us who really changed.

The Community Meeting (Мирская сходка, Book IV, No. 20) — The Wolf applies to be elder over the sheep, and the Fox whispers a word for him to the Lioness. To avoid any talk of favouritism, all the beasts are summoned to vote — and not one word is raised against him. Krylov opens with the moral; the sting waits in the last lines, where somebody important was never asked at all.

The Cornflower (Василёк, Book I, No. 10) — A cornflower wilting in a lonely spot begs the sun to rise and revive it. A beetle digging nearby scoffs: the sun has oaks and cedars and fragrant flowers to care for — it will never cast a ray on so plain a thing. Then the sun rises. Krylov's closing address turns the tale toward everyone born to a high station.

The Council of Mice (Совет Мышей, Book VII, No. 1) — The mice resolve to win glory, and decree that only a mouse whose tail is as long as its body may sit in the Council — the surest sign of wisdom. The session opens in a flour bin… and there sits a rat with no tail at all. The young mouse demands her expulsion; the old mouse's closing answer explains everything.

The Crow (Ворона, Book VII, No. 27) — Krylov opens with the moral: keep to the station you were born to. A crow sticks a peacock's feather in her tail and struts off among the peahens, certain her hour of glory has come. Plucked bare by them and pecked by her own, she ends between two worlds — and Krylov illustrates the fable with the true story of Matryona, the merchant's daughter who married a baron.

Krylov Fables.

Intermission: "The Longest Night by the River 2" — instrumental.

KacheliTV — Russian classics, read aloud.

The Casket (Ларчик, Book I, No. 5) — A Casket from a master's hand, a marvel of finish and polish, is brought into the room, and a celebrated sage of mechanics takes it up: it has a secret, he swears — though strangely, no lock — and he will ferret that secret out if any man can. Krylov's moral stands at the head of the fable; the sage's long sweat discovers the rest.

The Cat and the Cook (Кот и Повар, Book III, No. 8) — A Cook of pious rules runs to the tavern, where a funeral feast is being held for his godmother, leaving Vaska the Cat to guard the provisions from the mice. He returns to pie-scraps on the floor and Vaska crouched behind the vinegar cask, purring and growling over a chicken — and delivers a reproach for the ages. Vaska listens, all right. The closing moral advises where such speeches belong.

The Cat and the Nightingale (Кошка и Соловей, Book VII, No. 24) — The Cat has caught the Nightingale and holds him, ever so gently, in her claws. Sing, dear soul — the Fox herself says the shepherds and shepherdesses swoon at your songs — sing, and you shall go free among the groves. The poor singer, barely breathing, can only squeak; and the Cat gives her verdict on his art, and then her sentence. Krylov whispers the moral in your ear at the close.

The Cloud (Туча, Book V, No. 20) — Above a country worn out by the heat a great Cloud passes — and lets fall not one drop on the thirsty fields. Its whole bounty pours in heavy rain upon the sea, and it boasts of its generosity to the Mountain. The Mountain's reply is the fable's moral, and it is addressed to more than clouds.

The Cobblestone (Булыжник, Book VII, No. 3) — A lost Diamond, found by a merchant on the road, is presented to the Tsar, bought, and set in gold as an ornament of the crown. The Cobblestone, who lay beside it in the mud for years — a stone is a stone, surely — begs a passing muzhik for a ride to the capital and a chance to shine as well. He is taken into use, just as he hoped. Krylov's closing line names the use.

Krylov Fables.

Intermission: "Santa Fe Springs" — instrumental.

KacheliTV — Russian classics, read aloud.

The Bream (Лещи, Book VIII, No. 20) — In the squire's garden pond the Bream live golden days, sporting in schools by the shore — until the squire orders some fifty Pike to be let loose among them. His friend begs for mercy: not one fin of the Bream will remain. But the squire only smiles, and asks what ever made anyone think he was so fond of the Bream.

The Brook (Ручей, Book II, No. 9) — A little Brook, hearing a shepherd mourn his drowned lamb, lectures the greedy River at length: give *it* such waters, and it would do good all along its way and reach the sea as pure as silver. Within the week a rain cloud settles over the mountain — and Krylov's closing moral tells why so many brooklets murmur so sweetly.

Bulat (Булат, Book VIII, No. 10) — The keen blade of a bulat saber — steel of fame — is thrown on the scrap heap and sold to a peasant for next to nothing, who mounts it with a handle and sets it to stripping bast, splitting kindling and trimming stakes, until the children ride it astride. When the Hedgehog asks if Bulat is not ashamed, the blade's closing answer lays the shame where it belongs.

Cannons and Sails (Пушки и Паруса, Book VIII, No. 12) — Aboard ship the Cannons rise against the Sails: canvas idlers, fit only to swell and strut, while the guns do the thundering in battle. Boreas obeys their plea and tears the Sails to shreds — and the moral at the close weighs what remains of a power whose parts are no longer wisely ordered.

The Cart (Обоз, Book II, No. 20) — A train of carts laden with pots must come down a steep hill. The good old horse bears his cart down step by careful step on his croup, while the young horse above rains mockery on him: watch *her* — she won't lead her cart down, she'll roll it! Krylov's moral closes the tale.

Krylov Fables.

Intermission: "Luminous Springs" — instrumental.

KacheliTV — Russian classics, read aloud.

The Bear and the Bees (Медведь у Пчёл, Book V, No. 7) — The beasts elect Mishka overseer of the hives — a bear with a famous sweet tooth for honey. When he hauls the whole store home to his den, the court in proper form dismisses him and sentences him to lie the winter through in that same den; the sentence is decided, settled and sealed, but not a drop of the honey is ever returned.

The Bear in the Net (Медведь в сетях, Book VI, No. 19) — Tangled fast in the hunters' net, with boar-spears, guns and dogs closing in, the Bear pleads his case: of all beasts, he swears, he alone has never touched a dead man. The hunter's reply turns the boast neatly inside out.

The Bee and the Flies (Пчела и Мухи, Book VI, No. 13) — Two Flies, chased from every feast in their homeland and shut out from the sweets by glass covers, invite the Bee to fly with them to distant, sweeter lands. The Bee — loved by peasant and grandee alike for her honeycombs — declines, and tells them exactly what awaits the useless, abroad as at home.

The Boy and the Snake (Мальчик и Змея, Book VI, No. 9) — A boy reaches for an eel and grabs a Snake instead, and turns as pale as his own shirt. The Snake grants him one pardon — and one warning: beware, and know with whom you jest.

The Boy and the Worm (Мальчик и Червяк, Book VI, No. 21) — Krylov opens with the moral: never trust to find happiness by betrayal. A worm, sheltered all summer in a peasant's garden, helps a boy steal the one amber apple he cannot reach — and learns, under the boy's heel, what a traitor's reward is worth.

Krylov Fables.

Intermission: "Damp Pine Sunrise" — instrumental.

KacheliTV — Russian classics, read aloud.

The Aged Lion (Лев состаревшийся, Book VIII, No. 1) — The terror of the forest grows old and powerless, and the beasts he once ruled race to repay old insults; when even the donkey rears up to kick him, the Lion begs the gods for a swift end instead.

Alcides (Алкид, Book VI, No. 6) — Hercules, crossing a narrow mountain path, finds a tiny curled creature in his way; heel and club only make it swell until it blocks the sun, and Athena herself must name it for him: Strife.

The Ant (Муравей, Book VI, No. 14) — An ant of unheard-of strength, the talk of his whole anthill, rides in state to the town to display himself — and discovers what a home-grown celebrity amounts to in the wide world.

Apelles and the Donkey (Апеллес и Ослёнок, Book VI, No. 7) — A vain little donkey, invited to visit the great painter Apelles, boasts to all the forest that he is to model for a Pegasus; Apelles, overhearing, confesses he only wanted the donkey's ears — for King Midas.

The Barrel (Бочка, Book II, No. 7) — A barrel lent to a friend comes home after two days holding a tax-farmer's wine, and for near a year no steaming or airing can rinse the smell away: Krylov's warning about harmful teaching, soaked up young.

Music break: "Damp Pine Sunrise" — instrumental.

KacheliTV — Russian classics, read aloud.