Introduction
One evening in April 1915, scandal-plagued holy man Gregory Rasputin (1864-1916), a close friend of Empress Alexandra, answered the invitation of pretty, young Marya Mlozov to visit her in Moscow. He was expecting to meet soldiers wounded in the Great War, but stumbled instead into a decidedly bohemian party in full swing. After disappointing Marya by shunning every temptation she put his way, he walked home with Gerard Shelley a picture of dejection.
“WHAT is the matter?” I asked. “Have you not enjoyed the evening?”
“Mister!” he replied, squeezing my arm in his powerful grip. “Sad! It is sad! I am sad for Russia. Faith and piety have forsaken the soul. It howls like a wolf at the gate of a pest-stricken village, frightening honest folk. Russia perishes! It perishes!”
I asked him how he had come to Marya Mlozov’s house. “She has visions” he replied. “She came to me in Petrograd* and begged me to explain them for her. She wished me to be present at the farewell party at her lazaret.* The soldiers were returning to the front to fight for Faith, Tsar and Fatherland. ‘In the name of God, do me this favour’ she said. ‘You will have friends among the officers when they return to the front!’
“Well, I come, like a thief in the night I come.* And I see — ” He held out his large white hands, as though powerless to express his feelings. The moonlight revealed the sadness of his eyes. “I see ‘A Banquet during the Plague.’”*
That is, St Petersburg, capital of the Tsardom of Russia from 1713 to 1721 and thereafter of the Russian Empire until 1918 (excepting a brief move to Moscow in 1728-1730). See also Britain and the Tsars.
A lazaret is a military hospital. The soldiers were wounded soldiers, recovering before being sent back to the War.
See 1 Thessalonians 5:2 and 2 Peter 3:10.
‘A Feast in Time of Plague’ was a short opera composed in 1900 by César Cui, to a libretto taken without much alteration from one of Aleksandr Pushkin’s four ‘Little Tragedies.’ Shelley tells us that Rasputin had enjoyed seeing it.
Précis
In 1915, Gregory Rasputin went to visit young Marya Mlozov in Moscow. He was expecting to talk to her about what she claimed were visions, and to meet soldiers wounded in the Great War; but to his great sadness, he found himself caught up instead in what he called ‘a banquet during the plague’, a frivolous evening party. (58 / 60 words)
In 1915, Gregory Rasputin went to visit young Marya Mlozov in Moscow. He was expecting to talk to her about what she claimed were visions, and to meet soldiers wounded in the Great War; but to his great sadness, he found himself caught up instead in what he called ‘a banquet during the plague’, a frivolous evening party.
Variations: 1.increase the length of this precis to exactly 65 words. 2.reduce the length of this precis to exactly 55 words. 3.introduce one of the following words into the precis: although, because, besides, despite, if, since, unless, until.
Word Games
Sevens Based on this passage
Suggest answers to this question. See if you can limit one answer to exactly seven words.
Variations: 1.expand your answer to exactly fourteen words. 2.expand your answer further, to exactly twenty-one words. 3.include one of the following words in your answer: if, but, despite, because, (al)though, unless.
Jigsaws Based on this passage
Express the ideas below in a single sentence, using different words as much as possible. Do not be satisfied with the first answer you think of; think of several, and choose the best.
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