By Saltykov.
I won't lie. I had to look up muzhik.
Mujik or muzhik refers to a Russian peasant, usually from pre-1917 Imperial Russia. The term connotes a certain degree of poverty, as most mujiks were serfs before the 1861 agricultural reforms. After that date, serfs were given parcels of land to work, and became free peasants. [thx Wikipedia]
The actual story was quite funny. Its poking fun at pompous bureaucrats and their narrow-minded focus on their area of work and inability to see beyond it, even for their own survival. No one seems to realize that without their offices and pensions and fancy titles, on the island they were on equal footing with the peasant. Actually, lesser footing as he could fend for himself and they could not. I guess they are so entrenched in their roles that it doesn't even come up. I guess its like being caged so long that even when the door is opened, you don't try to escape.
At least no one died in this one. : )
No comments:
Post a Comment