Chapter 12: Literary Circle

Although even now Mikhail had not thoroughly familiarized himself with this era, he still chatted at length with Belinsky—of course, most of the time he simply listened, listening to Belinsky talk about the present state of Russia, listening to him discuss how utterly stagnant and indifferent the current Russian literary world was, listening to him voice his deep anxiety over contemporary Russian society and his plans and schemes for changing all of it.

One could tell that, although the "Natural School" would not be formally proposed until two years later, Belinsky was already preparing for it now, and was actively helping Nekrasov plan and publish the anthology he had compiled.

And throughout the entire conversation, while praising Belinsky's ideas in this area, Mikhail also offered quite a few constructive suggestions and displayed a confidence more abundant than that of either Belinsky or Nekrasov.

So much so that when Mikhail stepped away for a while in the middle, Belinsky could not help but burst out laughing and say to Nekrasov:

"He gives me the feeling that he has been pondering this hidden current for a long time already, and that he has more abundant confidence in it than we do. Nikolai, if this young man had been born ten years earlier, we might all be working under him right now!"

Undoubtedly, Mikhail's thoughts and suggestions on this matter struck right at the heart of what Belinsky felt; although Belinsky had already vaguely sensed that this young man's thinking diverged from his own in certain places, joy still gained the upper hand in his heart.

Radical, advanced intellectuals like Belinsky are an absolute minority in any era; although there are a few kindred spirits around him, nothing is more delightful than meeting a young man who possesses both talent and ideas.

Therefore, at the moment of parting, Belinsky, for the first time ever, revealed a reluctant, lingering sentiment:

"Mikhail, forgive me, I still have many matters to attend to—let's pick up our talk next time! I'll introduce some friends to you; like you, they are all a group of estimable gentlemen, and I'm sure you'll have plenty to talk about."

Undoubtedly, the people Belinsky knew and associated with were all upper figures of today's literary world, and a considerable number of them have left their names in literary history—such as the future leaders of the Russian literary scene, Turgenev, Herzen, Gogol, and so on.

To be honest, had the timing not been so favorable and had he not happened to have a friend in the Cultural Circle, Mikhail's attempt to make a name for himself in the Russian literary world would probably have taken quite a bit of effort.

The Russian literary world of today, strictly speaking, exists only in these two cities—Saint Petersburg and Moscow; in the smaller places, many people can barely keep their stomachs full, so where would they find the time to pay attention to anything called literature?

Moreover, the literary world has always been an aristocratic circle; for Mikhail, the son of a mere clerk, to break into such a circle without some stroke of luck would indeed be harder than reaching the heavens.

Fortunately, the stroke of luck had already appeared, and Mikhail had most likely seized it.

And after seeing Belinsky off, only Mikhail and Nekrasov remained on the street; after such a conversation, Nekrasov's expression also changed again and again.

Being merely brilliant in writing would already be remarkable, but the key point is that this young man was actually able to engage in an intellectual clash with the idol of his own eyes, Belinsky, and showed not the slightest sign of timidity!

One must understand that a man like Belinsky had absorbed the most advanced thought of this era, and his long career as a critic had honed his astonishing sharpness and dialectical ability; an ordinary young man would begin to show his inadequacy the moment the conversation went a little deeper, let alone an exchange going back and forth.

At least up to now, Nekrasov had mostly been learning from and consulting Belinsky, relying on Belinsky to refine his own not-yet-mature ideas—so how could that be called an exchange going back and forth?

In short, the way Nekrasov now looked at Mikhail was well on its way to becoming starry-eyed.

But to be fair, each family knows its own affairs; although Mikhail was a college student who in a later era successfully advanced to the master's realm, on the path of scholarship, a doctorate is only just the starting point—so what does a master's degree even count for?

Of course, that is how Mikhail is.

Fortunately, he still had a fair grasp of the intellectual currents of this period, and combined with the many excellent summary papers he had read in later eras, holding his own for a few exchanges was not really a difficult matter.

But to tell the truth, if he said much more, the useless graduate student's true colors would probably be laid bare for all to see………

Well then, to get back to the point, conversation is conversation, but there was something Mikhail had never quite had the nerve to bring up with Belinsky; now that he had finally seen the man off, Mikhail at last asked Nekrasov in a rather furtive manner:

"Nikolai, how are the manuscript fees at Notes of the Fatherland? How many rubles can one get for an article?"

Reasonably speaking, talking about money is perfectly normal, but discussing money in front of a true idealist like Belinsky really gave Mikhail the feeling of committing a crime………

Having already taken the top seat in the world of criticism, yet still being that poor—that is hard to imagine in any profession.

If only he were willing to take a little money and say a few kind words about some aristocrats' works, wealth would probably have come pouring in on Belinsky like a tide.

Yet from beginning to end, Belinsky's answer was always just one: no.

Of course, Belinsky is Belinsky, and Mikhail is Mikhail.

And upon hearing Mikhail's question, Nekrasov, who had been looking at Mikhail with a face full of respect, was first taken aback, then also broke into an understanding smile.

As a fellow pauper, Nekrasov of course understood Mikhail's predicament; at his poorest, Nekrasov had truly been forced to share a communal sleeping bench with the beggars of Saint Petersburg—and at such times, how could he not have wished to make a living by writing?

Unfortunately, making a living by writing is already terribly difficult, and making a living by poetry is even more so; one must remember that Pushkin, the great poet who shook all of Russia at the time, priced his poems at only ten rubles apiece.

If even Pushkin was like this, other poets need not even be mentioned.

As for writers, the situation was somewhat better; leaving aside the great authors for now and speaking only of Mikhail's present circumstances, if his work were successfully published in Notes of the Fatherland, then:

"Four rubles a page, your novel should run to five pages, so that would be about twenty rubles; if you live frugally, it should barely be enough to get you through a month."

When it came to how long manuscript fees could keep one alive, Nekrasov could be said to know the answer down to the last detail.

But he could not live off that alone; otherwise he would not have done so many odd jobs besides writing poetry, nor would he now be putting so much of his energy into the publishing business.

"It'll do, I suppose."

Mikhail, who had been somewhat mentally prepared, took a deep breath, then looked at Nekrasov and said:

"Nikolai, aren't you planning something regarding the anthology? May I join in?"

Author's note: Regarding the prices and the purchasing power of the ruble in this period of Russia, I looked through a great deal of material, but there does not seem to be a single most accurate answer.

Therefore I take a relatively close figure: roughly one ruble equals 100 kopecks, and one ruble is approximately equal to two hundred of today's units.

Of course, purchasing power is not easy to convert, but it can be roughly substituted in.

Should any experts have more accurate information, you are welcome to share it—many thanks.

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(End of this chapter)