{"id":1337768,"date":"2025-12-28T12:44:12","date_gmt":"2025-12-28T10:44:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/this-is-batum-for-you-how-bulgakov-and-woland-walked-around-podol-at-night\/"},"modified":"2025-12-29T07:16:05","modified_gmt":"2025-12-29T05:16:05","slug":"this-is-batum-for-you-how-bulgakov-and-woland-walked-around-podol-at-night","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/this-is-batum-for-you-how-bulgakov-and-woland-walked-around-podol-at-night\/","title":{"rendered":"This Is Batum\u2019s Doing\u201d: Bulgakov\u2019s Woland Haunts Podil at Night"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>Source: Author&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/portnikov\/posts\/pfbid0G9rBppgnyn7VR3SPkMFVo1fqLMVshRpDnMkQ8tUZqovR8d6YWoz4F5vwWVEXW2sSl\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Facebook<\/a> page<\/em><\/p>\n<p data-start=\"107\" data-end=\"165\"><strong data-start=\"107\" data-end=\"163\">A Strange Company Roamed the Streets of Kyiv\u2019s Podil<\/strong><\/p>\n<p data-start=\"167\" data-end=\"606\"><strong>An elderly man with a professorial air and a weary, indifferent expression; a long-legged eccentric with wandering eyes; a huge, scruffy black cat; a red-haired giant whose frozen eyes held an ominous squint; and a tastelessly dressed young woman in a tattered fur coat confidently made their way toward Andriyivskyi Uzviz. Behind them, a short man in a once-fashionable coat, dampened and stiffened by the Dnieper, struggled to keep up.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"186\" data-end=\"299\">\u201cWhy did you bring me here, Messier?\u201d the short man asked the old professor. \u201cWhat have we all forgotten here?\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"301\" data-end=\"465\">\u201cThat\u2019s for you, Batum,\u201d Woland almost said. \u201cYou don\u2019t need to compose odes to murderers.\u201d But the devil\u2019s tradition does not include publicly exposing the dead.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"467\" data-end=\"586\">\u201cThis is your hometown, Master,\u201d Woland began gently. \u201cNative soil! I thought you would be happy to breathe its air.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"588\" data-end=\"948\">\u201cI would be happy to breathe the air of Moscow,\u201d the writer interrupted the old devil. \u201cPatriarchal ponds, admirers, colleagues, metropolitan life. A Russian writer belongs in Russia\u2014that\u2019s exactly what I told Joseph Vissarionovich. And you brought me to the provinces. Look, there are even signs in some non-existent language. What is this\u2014Petliura Street?\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"950\" data-end=\"1040\">\u201cPetliura Street is at the other end of the city, Master,\u201d Behemoth purred flatteringly.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1042\" data-end=\"1197\">\u201cIs there really a Petliura Street in this city? And you brought me here? To a city with Petliura and signs in a \u2018language\u2019? This city should be bombed!\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1199\" data-end=\"1294\">\u201cThey\u2019re bombing already, Master! Can you hear the air raid siren?\u201d Azazello said cheerfully.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1296\" data-end=\"1346\">\u201cWho is bombing?\u201d Bulgakov asked. \u201cThe Germans?\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1348\" data-end=\"1399\">\u201cNo, no: your compatriots are bombing. Russia-p.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1401\" data-end=\"1426\">The Reds? Again?\u201d<\/p>\n\t\t<aside class=\"shortcode-also\" data-title=\"Read also\" >\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/monument-to-the-russian-world-why-they-started-talking-about-bulgakov-again\/\">Monument to the \u2018RuskiyMir\u2019: Why Bulgakov Is Back in the Spotlight<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\n<p data-start=\"195\" data-end=\"346\">\u201cNo. Russia is neither red nor white now. It is Chekist; it is gangster. But it wants everyone to be able to read your books\u2014in the original language.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"348\" data-end=\"443\">\u201cWhat a wonderful country! Without the Reds!\u201d Bulgakov was moved. \u201cSo why aren\u2019t we in Moscow?\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"445\" data-end=\"546\">\u201cBecause you should not have written <em data-start=\"482\" data-end=\"489\">Batum<\/em>,\u201d Woland wanted to say, but once again changed his mind.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"548\" data-end=\"630\">\u201cBut you have admirers here, too, Master. Look\u2014they have gathered near your house.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"632\" data-end=\"757\">\u201cIs that you, or what?\u201d Bulgakov asked contemptuously, but the crowd had already recognized the Master and shouted in unison.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"759\" data-end=\"1055\">\u201cThis is our compensation for the monument, Mikhail Afanasyevich! The chance to see you in person, to express our gratitude\u2026 We grew up on <em data-start=\"898\" data-end=\"924\">The Master and Margarita<\/em>. And <em data-start=\"930\" data-end=\"955\">The Days of the Turbins<\/em>\u2014that is the real Kyiv, noble and refined, not this village around us! And your beautiful monument!\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1057\" data-end=\"1099\">\u201cWhere is the monument?\u201d the writer asked.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1101\" data-end=\"1418\">\u201cHere it is\u2014right here! It\u2019s simply under guard, and no one has seen it for four years! It\u2019s being protected from Russian bombing. And these ignoramuses\u2014they want to demolish it, Mikhail Afanasyevich! Take it down from the hillside!\u00a0We saved the monument from Russian barbarians, and now the village wants to tear it down!\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1420\" data-end=\"1511\">\u201cFrom Russian barbarians?\u201d the writer asked in surprise. \u201cSo you don\u2019t want Russia to win?\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1513\" data-end=\"1800\">\u201cMikhail Afanasyevich, Russia is a terrible country. They are murderers; they shell peaceful neighbourhoods. We want Russia to fall apart and disappear! We are so proud of you\u2014you are a great Kyivan! And Russia is a country of Sharikovs. And the Sharikovs want to demolish your monument!\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1802\" data-end=\"1878\">\u201cThey are schizophrenics,\u201d the writer whispered to Woland. \u201cSchizophrenics.\u201d<\/p>\n\t\t<aside class=\"shortcode-also\" data-title=\"Read also\" data-right>\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/f-16-fighters-and-anti-aircraft-drones-how-kyiv-repels-enemy-attacks\/\">F-16 fighters and anti-aircraft drones: how Kyiv repels enemy attacks<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\n<p data-start=\"197\" data-end=\"524\">\u201cYour fans are all schizophrenics,\u201d the devil wanted to say. \u201cOne might think it\u2019s possible not to be schizophrenic and still understand what you intended in <em data-start=\"355\" data-end=\"367\">The Master<\/em>. Or to hate the Russian army and still admire the Turbins. Of course, they\u2019re schizophrenics! Morphinists! But they love you.\u201d Of course, he said nothing.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"526\" data-end=\"630\">\u201cThey are suffering people, Master. Suffering. They long for the Russian word, for the Russian world.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"632\" data-end=\"817\">\u201cYou\u2019re sounding like Putin now,\u201d said one of Bulgakov\u2019s admirers, an elderly writer brought by the devil on the Intercity from Dnipro especially for this meeting. \u201cAren\u2019t you Putin?\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"819\" data-end=\"1101\">\u201cI am not Putin,\u201d Woland said regretfully. \u201cWhere would I get Putin?<\/p>\n<blockquote data-start=\"71\" data-end=\"281\">\n<p data-start=\"73\" data-end=\"281\">Putin is an evil you wouldn\u2019t find even in hell. We deal more with writers\u2014with culture, you know. In a single mind, you see, such a war can be conceived. As for Putin? He would have to invent it himself.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p data-start=\"89\" data-end=\"362\">\u201cI hope the meeting with your fans brought you some amusement, Master, and that you won\u2019t reproach us for this Christmas outing. Koroviev, some champagne for the Master! This is Massandra, stolen by your compatriots, and especially easy to drink. Happy holidays, Master!\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"364\" data-end=\"721\">The anxiety that had flowed from the Black Sea still hung over the city despised by the writer, yet in the distance, a faint glow of dawn could be seen<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"364\" data-end=\"721\">\u2014a sign that Kyiv might finally catch its breath, begin extinguishing fires, and help those affected by the invasion of the so-called \u201cRussian world.\u201d The time for a night walk with Woland was coming to an end.<\/p>\n<p>\u2013 Maybe next time to Moscow, Messier? To Moscow! \u2013 The writer asked hopefully. \u2013 Well, to hell with that monument.<\/p>\n<p>Also, follow <strong>\u201cPryamyi\u201d<\/strong> on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pryamiy\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Facebook<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/prm_ua\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Twitter<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/t.me\/+rtV4dxYu2_cyNjVi\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Telegram<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/pryamiy\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\"><em>\u2022 Materials published in the \u201cOPINIONS\u201d section reflect the opinion of the author of the publication, who bears full responsibility for the accuracy of the information.<\/em><\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\"><em>\u2022 The editorial staff of prm.ua may not share the opinions expressed in the author&#8217;s material.<\/em><\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\"><em>\u2022 The owner of the webpage in the \u201cOPINIONS\u201d section is the author of the publication.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Source: Author&#8217;s Facebook page A Strange Company Roamed the Streets of Kyiv\u2019s Podil An elderly man with a professorial air and a weary, indifferent expression; a long-legged eccentric with wandering eyes; a huge, scruffy black cat; a red-haired giant whose frozen eyes held an ominous squint; and a tastelessly dressed young woman in a tattered [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":57,"featured_media":1337743,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[76871,76872,76893],"class_list":["post-1337768","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-2","category-news-feed","category-thoughts"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1337768","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/57"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1337768"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1337768\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1337936,"href":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1337768\/revisions\/1337936"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1337743"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1337768"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1337768"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}