The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1869-08-30
A RUSSIAN JESTER.

The London Attenaun gives the following
notice of collection of Russian anecdotes
relating. to Balakireff, the favorite Jester of
Peter the Great, which have recently been
published
The name of Peter the Great, as the one
Russian sovereign who mingled to an unpre-
cedented extent, both at home and abroad
with men of low degree, is naturally asso-
clated with innumerable popular anecdotes
such as are indissolubly intertwined with the
n,o,,oyv of James the Fifth of Scotland
Henrv the Faghth Of England and ''the good
HaroTn Al-BasctEtid' Of the Thousand AID
One Nights. In this strange kind Of immor-
tality. however, he has formidable rival n
the person of his celebrated jester, from the
innumerable stories of whose humor and au-
dacity NJ. Basistoff has made judicious and
amusing selection. Whether all the broad
witticisms and cunning devices related in the
volume before us are really to- be attributed
to Balakireff, or whether, as Isl more
probable, his name has been used merely as a
peg whereon to hang certain favorite jokes
whose real authors are unknown, matters
little it is sufficient to know that fair pro-
portion of the stories are unquestionably au-
thentic, and that the remainder, if not true,
are at least ben tFOgdtO. In fact, this famous
wag appears to have been one of those persons
who are selected by tacit consent to typify a
certain genus, and hand down to posterity,
under their own name, all the leading charac-
teristics of the class which they represent. In
the humor of every nation, as in its grayer
wisdom, we invariably meet with some rep
resentative man, whose very name FORMS as
| it were, the trademark of national wit and
sarcasm; and Balakireff apparently, is to
Russia what Joe Miller has been to England,
fha IoiT l,f To fHx-ll EI1la
spiegel to Germany, Nasiredden-el-Khoiah to
| Turkey and Colonel Crockett to the United
States
| All the stories current respecting the EN-
peror and his favorite rebound considerably,
as might be expected. to the credit of both
parties, exhibiting in the strongest light the
native shrewdness of the wit and the frank
good nature of the sovereign. Indeed,
throughout the entire work, Balaldreif APP
| pears very much in the character of spaniel
in lions cage-admiring, even while mock
ing, his formidable patron-behaving to-
wards him with half-waggish, half affection
ate familiarity perpetually offending, and
being perpetually forgiven.
F.. As for the anecdotes themselves, it is sufii-
ciently curious to observe how many of them
figure under a slightly altered garb in the
literature Of other nations and other ages-a
fresh proof of the fact that wit, like wisdom,
|
an exact reproduction Of the trick 10y which a
certain Macedonian prince of old time wa,
induced to spare captured garrison which h.
was about to put to the sword
A cousin Of Balakren happened TO fan under the
| dspeasuIe Of the Emperor VINO delivered hun 90
the authorities for trial aud was Just about 20 ra
THEN sentence, when BaaElrehI nearing ol II, made
| his appearance with very dOlelul lace, and ap-
| preached his master as If about TO speak, Pete!,
guessing his eTand turned to the ollcers who We're
standing around him, and SAID IN lOGu VOce:-''l
| know what petition this fellow Is bringing me, put
| give you my word Of honor, gentlemen, JhaJ VIII
| not grant it, The jester hearing TINS, instantly
threw himself at the feet OF the Czd auu sad win
the utmost apparent eaTnestness, 81 Deseech, Peter
AeXeeYtCh, do not pardon that rascal OF cousin OF
mine!' 'Ah, you rOgue' cried Peter, you're too
sharp for me yet see" and the next day The cul-
prlt received his pardon.
The anecdote immediately following is one
familiar to almost every nation OF Europ9
under one form or another, In when the dis
gulsed monarch, meeting with a laDorer who
expresses a strong desire to see his sovereign
in person, offers to crafty his wish, inform
ing him at the same time that he wall recog-
nlze the great man as being the only one OF
the company who wears hat. rms IS an
exact counterpart of the old Scottish tale of
James the Fifth and the thresher, and ends
with precisely the same exclamation on the
part of the astounded countryman: 1t must
be either you OF 1, for all the rest have
their hats off !" A little further on in
the work occurs another story, wearing
at first sight an essentially Russian appear
ance, but which, strange to say we have our
selves heard nlttdt0 n0mjne, in one of the
western counties of England, from the lips
OF man who had certainly never heard of
Balakiretf, nor, very possibly, Of Peter the