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Borodino
"Borodino"
also: Бородино
Mikhail Lermontov's 1837 patriotic ballad commemorating the Battle of Borodino, narrated by an old soldier to a younger generation. Chekhov quotes its couplet about comrades who betrayed the old soldier and sold their swords ("Одни ему изменили... И продали шпагу свою") to characterize old acquaintances who have proved false to him.
Reading notes
- To Ye. K. Sakharova, 13 January 1889. Moscow. §5 Some betrayed him
Opening of a two-line quotation from Lermontov's 1837 ballad "Borodino," describing old comrades who proved false; Chekhov applies it to acquaintances who have disappointed him.