“Atonement of the Dabir" is a historical novel by Maurice Simashko , created in 1972-1975. and became the second of the two most famous books of the writer [1] [2] .
| The Atonement of Dabir | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Novel |
| Author | Maurice Davidovich Simashko |
| Original language | Russian |
| Date of writing | 1972-1975 |
The “Atonement of the Dabir” refers to the events of the late 11th century in the empire of the Seljuk Turks, one of the greatest powers of the Muslim East. Unlike the novel Mazdak , in which events stretch for decades and cover all of Asia Minor, the Atonement of the Dabir action takes place in the city of Merv, the old capital of the Seljuk dynasty, for about fifty days in late summer - early fall of 1092. At the center of the story is the struggle for power and political intrigue at the court of the Sultan Malik Shah in parallel with the activities of Assassin terrorists preparing the assassination of the great Wazir Nizam al-Mulk .
The structure of the work is noteworthy. The novel is built as an alternation of internal monologues of the four main characters: the great Wazir Nizam al-Mulk; the old mouth of Nasr Ali - master of flowers and at the same time the head of the underground cell of terrorists in Merv; his young student Reza Shagird and the court imam, Omar Khayyam . Each chapter is divided into short sub-chapters, thus the text is served tightly, but in small portions [2] , "according to the laws of a very short story" [1] .
Mikhail Weller has repeatedly noticed the allegorical plot of the novel, its connection with modernity [3] [4] .
Story
The rivals' intrigues prompt the great Wazir Nizam al-Mulk, the de facto ruler of the Seljuk empire under the limp Sultan Malik Shah, to officially leave his post. In fact, he intends to keep all the threads of government in his hands, being an atabek - the educator of the young sultan from a young age, and most importantly - the most experienced administrator in the empire. In his spare time, the great Wazir intends to fulfill his long-standing promise to the Sultan - to write a book about state administration, and in the meantime to carry out his main plan - to prepare a campaign against the mountain fortress Alamut , captured by terrorist assassins led by Hassan ibn Sabbah.
The Great Wazir begins work on the book, hoping to write it within fifty days - a chapter every day. His wise and cynical advice on managing a great power is clothed in elegant form by the court poet Maghribi; thus the famous book Sieset-name is born. Nizam al-Mulk himself is deprived of literary talent and generally a sense of beauty; his ideal is a diligent scribe (dabir), he finds the highest pleasure in daily and painstaking bureaucratic work. The great wazir is a supporter of strict order and an enemy of all free thought, he is conservative in everything and distrusts someone’s frivolous behavior, whether it be the debauchery of the beloved wife of the Sultan or the night adventures of the court stargazer, Omar Khayyam. But at the same time, Nizam al-Mulk sincerely wants to benefit the state, the Sultan and the people, he is often condescending to subordinates and capable of generosity. For a long time lonely in his large and noisy family, the old vazir with paternal tenderness belongs to the young gardener-shagird, who was once saved from starvation. He does not know that the shagird is recruited by the assassins, who have long and carefully prepared the murder of the great Wazir ...
Shagird Reza bears in himself memories of the terrible days of his childhood, when the whole block in which his family lived died of starvation, about stray dogs that before his eyes gobbled up the bodies of all his relatives and wanted to bite him himself. Always gloomy and silent, the shagard hates the whole world and recalls the paradise gardens in which he once found himself when he was given cannabis in a mountain fortress. In the evenings, he visits the house where the Nasr Ali ustad lives, the master of flowers, with whom the shagird communicates as a fellow by profession, but in fact - as with his curator, performing tasks of the secret brotherhood of the Assassins.
The master ustad collects and transfers to Alamut the information that the shagird brings him from the palace of the Sultan, instructs his student and at the same time is tormented by doubts. He belongs to a generation of old truth fighters who stood at the origins of the movement. Ustad does not approve of the methods of terror, drug intoxication of young recruits and imitation of heavenly pleasures, for which priestesses of love from pagan temples are invited. He recalls how the new leader of the doctrine, Sayyid-na (“the great saint”) Hassan ibn Sabbah took all the reins of power into his own hands, pushing the truth-seekers out, and did not spare his own son to strengthen the legend of his holiness. Ustad does not like what is happening, but he agrees that the struggle that his associates are waging against the tyranny of the great Wazir is fair, and all means are justified in it.
The learned imam Omar Khayyam acts as an outside, skeptical and mocking observer who does not interfere in anything, evaluates what is happening from the point of view of a sage who is well aware of the vices and shortcomings of the world. Imam Omar loves wine and women, regularly visits the suburbs - Gyaur-kala, where the gebras live - Zoroastrians, who remained faithful to pre-Islamic traditions. His dissolute beloved Rei lives in Gyaur-kale, dancing naked over flames, selling herself to men and teaching her young daughter her craft. Imam Omar is friends with the old ustad, although he suspects him of being a follower of dangerous teachings, and leads philosophical disputes with him. The younger wife of the Sultan, the lustful beauty Turkan-Khatun, who hates the great Wazir, is patronizing of Imam Omar, feeling that he does not condemn her behavior and even secretly admires her.
Nizam al-Mulk and his main rival - the new great Wazir Abul al-Ganaim - are fighting a tireless struggle in all spheres of state and palace life. The object of their dispute is the shagird, which the wazir wants to keep with him, and Abu-l-Ganaim persistently sends him to work in the palace of Turkan-Khatun, not suspecting that the young gardener should soon kill his powerful rival. Nizam al-Mulk intervenes in the affairs of the Jewish community and demands that the Seljuk house be mentioned instead of the kings of the legendary Keev dynasty in the Sabbath toast. Jewish exilarch Nisson by all means defends the right to observe a long tradition and finds support from the new Wazir. In the end, the old Wazir is inferior to Abul al-Ganaim on all less important issues in order to achieve the main thing - the consent of the Sultan to hike in the mountains and storm Alamut. Nizam al-Mulk is in a hurry, knowing that the Assassins are strengthening their fortresses. Sayyid-na sends to Merv his closest associate - the Dai Buzurg-Umida, with the order to disrupt the campaign at all costs.
Old Wazir, too, begin to be overcome by doubts, to which at first he does not attach importance. Confused by his peace and the love scene he observed in the library between Turkan-Khatun and her favorite Kudan-Emir, and the memories of his long-standing desire that arose in his early childhood - to learn to move his ears. The old man drives away obscene and frivolous desires, delving into the work on the book. Doubts are also visited by his future killer - the shagird, who suddenly meets on the street a woman with whom he made love for the first time in paradise gardens. Shagird begins to speculate that the Gardens of Eden did not actually exist, which means that the world is not quite the way he imagined it. But the shagird also forces himself not to think about anything other than his sacred purpose.
A Turkan-Khatun, by chance meeting a shagird in the garden, draws attention to him. Shagird, who had previously experienced, in spite of his will, an attraction to a slutty beauty, was completely baffled. Desire is spinning his head and distracting him from thoughts of murder and imminent death. He begins to admire the beauty of the world around him, visits the gabras to experience carnal love again, and meanwhile he finishes preparations for the assassination attempt on the old wazir - he hides a knife with signs in the palace garden that should prove that the blow was delivered from Alamut.
At the same time, Buzurg-Umid plans two more murders: the old muhtasib, who oversees the order in the city, and the freethinking imam Omar. However, having learned about the latter, the Nasr Ali ustah sharply protests and does not allow the death of his friend. Buzurg-Umid in response decides to eliminate the mouth.
On the morning of the assassination attempt, the shagird sees his only friend, the big-lipid fidai, who had just slaughtered the old mukhtasib, being beaten to death with sticks before his eyes. Then he sees his teacher-ustad with a knife in his heart. Already without his former faith in his mission, he nevertheless rushes into the palace garden, intending to fulfill his task and kill the old Wazir. Imam Omar tries to stop him, but at a crucial moment, Nizam al-Mulk remains unarmed and defenseless in front of an armed knife with a shagard. Only a miracle can save a wazir - and it happens ...
The attempt was foiled, and now no one can stop the old Wazir from sending troops to the mountains. On Yazdan Square, along with other dignitaries, Nizam al-Mulk hosts a grand parade of troops with fighting elephants and giant siege machines, which must break the walls of the impregnable fortresses of the Assassins. Wazir's heart is full of joy: all his rivals were powerless. The Turkan-Khatun also achieved her goal: while the Sultan takes the parade, she enjoys her new lover - the shagird, who on the eve threw the knife into the canal and firmly decided to break with his former like-minded people. Imam Omar, standing in the square with the crowd, reflects on the system built by the great Wazir as an impeccable mechanism that dominates every person in the state. But in the mind of the impudent imam, a sense of protest grows, and the feeling of the fragility of the power pyramid becomes so sharp that it causes laughter in Khayyam. This is noticed by the great wazir, not understanding the reasons for the fun, but he is absorbed in his triumph and confident in future success.
Right from the parade, the Seljuk army is marching west: it must suddenly turn into the mountains from the road to Baghdad. Nizam al-Mulk achieved his goal: soon he will destroy the nest of assassins, and from now on he will be guarded by a man whom he can completely trust - a young shagird, whom he once saved his life. Shagird is also happy: during the day he prepares the dastarkhan for the old Wazir, and spends the nights in the tent of the loving Turkan-Khatun. It seems that there is no power in the world that could destroy this idyll ...
Notes
- ↑ 1 2 Weller, M.I. Perpendicular . - M .: AST, 2008 - ISBN 978-5-17-049887-1 , ISBN 978-5-9713-7448-0
- ↑ 1 2 Weller, M.I. Song of the triumphant plebeian
- ↑ “<Simashko> worked on conventional medieval material ... and he built eternal constructions. <...> Dabir - ... one of the practical leaders, or, as they would say <now>, is the top manager of the state. "
- ↑ "Conditionally - the material of the medieval Middle East, but in reality ... - the collapse of a totalitarian state." Weller, M. I. Perpendicular . - M .: AST, 2008 - ISBN 978-5-17-049887-1 , ISBN 978-5-9713-7448-0
Links
- Varzhapetyan, V. Ascent to Khayyam (Maurice Simashko. “Atonement of the Dabir”) // Friendship of Peoples , Moscow: Fiction, 1980, No. VIII, p. 258, 262-263.
- “Maurice Simashko ... wrote the brilliant novel“ The Atonement of the Dabir ”...” Weller, M. I. in the author’s program on the Echo of Moscow radio station.