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Pushkin — Ruslan and Lyudmila, Canto One
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Pushkin — Ruslan and Lyudmila, Canto One
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.