On an exceptionally warm spring afternoon two men are sitting on a bench by a pond in a Moscow park. The park and the surrounding streets are strangely empty of people. The older of the two men, plump, clean-shaven and wearing spectacles, is Mikhail Aleksandrovich Berlioz, the chairman of one of the most important Moscow literary associations. His younger companion, dressed in a cowboy shirt and crumpled trousers, is the poet Ivan Nikolaevich Ponyrev, also known as Bezdomny (“Homeless”). They are discussing the possible publication of a poem about Jesus Christ. Suddenly, seemingly out of nowhere, they are joined by a stranger. This chance encounter is to lead, before nightfall of the same day, to Berlioz being decapitated by a tram, and Ivan to be so affected by the event that he goes…
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Citation: Cockrell, Roger. "Master i Margarita". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 22 March 2011 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=20703, accessed 22 November 2024.]
