concept
Holy Martyr Blaise
St. Blaise
also: Священномученик Власий, St. Blaise, Saint Blaise of Sebaste
An early Christian bishop and martyr venerated in Russian Orthodox popular piety as a patron of livestock; Malakhin invokes him reflexively while lamenting that his oxen have gone four days without food or water, the same breath in which he reduces them to mere cargo.
Reading notes
- Cold Blood §89 Holy Martyr Blaise
Malakhin invokes St. Blaise, the traditional patron of livestock in Russian folk piety, in the same breath as acknowledging that his oxen "want to drink and eat" just as people do -- and yet does nothing to help them beyond groaning and wringing his hands. The gap between his sentimental invocation of a saint and his practical indifference to the animals' four days without food or water is left for the reader to notice; the narrator does not comment on it.