“The Master and Margarita” is known to absolutely everyone who has ever picked up the book, and those who have not read it have probably heard about the film adaptation of this work. Mikhail Bulgakov worked on this novel for many years, and it is not for nothing that many Bulgakov scholars consider it to be the author’s most brilliant work. Readers also respond ambiguously to this book; you either fall in love with the novel from the first lines, or vice versa, there is simply no third option - the work does not leave anyone indifferent.
The novel was written very harshly, and therefore they did not even want to allow such a book to be published in Soviet times. The work was seen by the world only many years later, but, alas, not for long - a series of prohibitions would begin again. As a result, the novel will begin its life anew only during Perestroika.
It’s possible not to fall in love with a work, but it’s absolutely impossible to remain without any emotions towards the quotes, even if you haven’t read the novel!
Azazello
Insult is a common reward for good work...
What are those steps on the stairs? - Koroviev asked, playing with a spoon in a cup of black coffee.
“And they are coming to arrest us,” Azazello answered and drank a glass of cognac.
“Oh, well, well,” Koroviev responded to this.
Then fire! The fire with which it all began and with which we all end!
Kill the stubborn creature! (about Behemoth, who did not want to accept defeat in a chess match with Satan)
No need to be rude on the phone! There is no need to lie on the phone. It's clear?! (Varenukha)
These women are difficult people! Why, for example, was I sent on this matter? Let Hippopotamus ride, he’s charming...
After all, you think about how you can be dead...
Quotes from Woland
How can a person manage if he is not only deprived of the opportunity to draw up any plan for at least a ridiculously short period of time, well, say, a thousand years, but cannot even vouch for his own tomorrow?
The most interesting thing about this lie is that it is a lie from the first to the last word.
Annushka has already bought sunflower oil, and not only bought it, but even bottled it. So the meeting will not take place.
“We speak different languages, as always,” Woland responded, “but the things we talk about don’t change because of this.
The second freshness is nonsense! There is only one freshness - the first, and it is also the last. And if the sturgeon is second freshness, then this means that it is rotten!
Cat Behemoth
Housekeepers know everything - it is a mistake to think that they are blind.
History will judge us.
Maestro! Shorten the march!
I don’t play pranks, I don’t hurt anyone, I fix the primus stove, and I also consider it my duty to warn that the cat is an ancient and inviolable animal.
For mercy's sake...would I allow myself to pour vodka for the lady? This is pure alcohol!
I haven’t had coffee yet, how can I leave?
I will be a silent hallucination.
It's nice to hear that you treat your cat so politely. For some reason, cats are usually called “you,” although not a single cat has ever drunk brotherhood with anyone.
Your attendance at the funeral is cancelled.
Quotes from Koroviev
It’s whistling, I don’t argue,” Koroviev remarked condescendingly, “it’s really whistling, but, speaking impartially, it’s whistling is very average!”
If it weren't for poker, your life in Moscow would be completely unbearable.
No document, no person.
...a writer is not determined by his ID, but by what he writes! How do you know what plans are swarming in my head?
...I will take the liberty of advising you, Margarita Nikolaevna, to never be afraid of anything. This is unreasonable.
Margarita
I'll tell you a fairy tale. There was only one aunt in the world. And she had no children, and there was no happiness at all. And so at first she cried for a long time, and then she became angry (addressing the little boy).
No, wait... I know what I'm getting into. But I go to any lengths because of him, because I have no hope for anything else in the world. But I want to tell you that if you destroy me, you will be ashamed! Yes, it's a shame!
If you, bastard, get involved in the conversation again...
But I wonder if they come to arrest you?
Margarita Quotes
A man's fate is determined by his women, there is always a choice: or do you choose a woman? a guiding star, or a woman-trap.
I'm dizzy from all these unknowns...
There is nothing more painful, but nothing more blissful than returning to life after numbness.
I was overcome with sadness before the long journey. Isn’t it true, sir, it is quite natural, even when a person knows that happiness awaits him at the end of this road?
No matter what pessimists say, the earth is still absolutely beautiful, and under the moon it is simply unique.
... even being completely free and invisible, you still need to be at least a little prudent in pleasure.
river horse
In addition to its color, the lunar symbolism of Bulgakov’s cat should also be hinted at by its name - Behemoth. The common hippopotamus is a huge animal that spends most of its life... in water. And it comes to land only to feed, and then only... at night. Therefore, in some languages the name of this aquatic animal has a connection with water: river horse and Nile horse. The hippopotamus is the second largest land animal in the world, after the elephant. If the elephant is a land animal, then the hippopotamus is an aquatic animal.
Hippopotamus - the image of the Moon
A retreat towards solar symbolism. The elephant is a symbol of the Sun, and the hippopotamus is the Moon. The word “elephant” itself comes from the word “sun”, or rather, “elephant”. It is with the help of the root slаn-slon-slun that in some Slavic languages the word denoting the luminary of the day is formed. The word "slonce" means a small elephant. Compare words with a similar diminutive suffix: window (from window), mirror (from mirror), koptytse (from hoof). Let's open the Explanatory Dictionary of the Living Great Russian Language by Vladimir Dahl.
Slonce - Wed south zap. the sun, but they say: Sonechko. If this is not one permutation of letters, due to the nature of the pronunciation, then it would be possible to accept a common root for elephant, elephant, elephant, (converted into the sun): does the brightness of the sun obscure the vision of the eye?
The Holy Trinity
So, let's return to the lunar symbolism of Woland's retinue. Note that the author of the novel draws attention to the number 3, calling the company consisting of Koroviev, Woland and the cat Behemoth a “troika”. The novel “The Master and Margarita” itself consists of a double three - it has 33 chapters. The Behemoth cat, having “turned over three times in the air” at the ball, falls into the pool. At the same ball there are 3 swimming pools. Apartment No. 50 is called “thrice cursed” in the novel. Woland calls the Master “thrice romantic,” who wrote his novel in 3 parts.
The number 3 symbolizes the night luminary with its periods of waxing, full and waning moon. What similar word can replace the word “troika”? Of course, the word “trinity”! And this is already a hint to the lunar goddess Hecate, who was called the Triple Goddess due to the fact that the number 3 has a connection with the Moon.
The veneration of the Triple Goddess was so strong in the ancient world that cunning Christians had no choice but to introduce the concept of the Holy Trinity into their church dogmas, replacing the lunar phases, understandable to every earthling, with some “hypostases” incomprehensible to a sane person. Yes, to what extent it was necessary to go to sophistication and tricks in order to win over the admirers of the Triple Goddess with such mimicry!
From the cat family
This unusually huge cat is not just a dark shade of some color, but “black, like soot or a rook,” i.e. There is probably no blacker color in nature.
Shoe polish (polish) was previously made from soot, but now soot is used to prepare black paint in printing and paint production. In the dictionary of synonyms we read that the expression “black as soot” has the following synonyms: blue-black, the color of the night. And the rook is known for its black plumage with a purple tint. And not only in plumage, but also in intelligence similar to that of a chimpanzee!
There is no doubt that the “blue-black color of the night” Cat is a symbol of the night luminary of the Moon. The reader may ask in bewilderment: “Isn’t the lion - the king of beasts, a representative of the cat family - a well-known symbol of the greater King of Beasts - the Sun God?” Yes that's right. That is why in astrology the fiery zodiac sign, which is the house of the Sun, is called Leo (Leo).
Leo - the image of the Sun
However, what color is the color of a normal lion? The colors of the sun are yellowish, reddish and reddish shades. The same cannot be said, for example, about another representative of the feline species - the black panther. Therefore, in astral symbolism, the Moon corresponds to a black, black and white, or white cat, and the Sun - a red one.
The black cat is the image of the Moon. The red cat is an image of the Sun.
This is where the legs, or rather cat's paws, of superstitious sun worshipers grow.
Like, if a black cat, especially on the left (lunar) side, crosses the road, it’s bad luck. And if the red cat is on the right (sunny) side - fortunately.
THE MASTER AND MARGARITA CATING PHRASES FROM THE NOVEL
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…Nonsense! In three hundred years this will pass. /Woland/
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Which country's wine do you prefer at this time of day? /Woland/
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...never ask for anything! Never and nothing, and especially among those who are stronger than you. They will offer and give everything themselves! /Woland/
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...but here’s the question that worries me: if there is no God, then, the question arises, who controls human life and the entire order on earth in general? - The man himself controls. /Woland/
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I like to sit low - it’s not so dangerous to fall from low. /Woland/
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People are like people. They love money, but this has always been the case... Humanity loves money, no matter what it is made of, whether leather, paper, bronze or gold. Well, frivolous... well, well... ordinary people... in general, they resemble the old ones... the housing problem only spoiled them... / Woland /
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Why pursue in the footsteps of what is already over? /Woland/
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There are no evil people in the world, there are only unhappy people. The most interesting thing about this lie is that it is a lie from the first to the last word. / Woland /
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Everyone will be rewarded according to their faith. /Woland/
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A brick will never fall on anyone’s head for no reason at all. /Woland/
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It's sometimes nice to linger on the festive midnight. /Woland/
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Manuscripts don't burn. /Woland/
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There is only one freshness - the first, and it is also the last. And if the sturgeon is second freshness, then this means that it is rotten! /Woland/
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What would your good do if evil did not exist? /Woland/
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Yes, man is mortal, but that would not be so bad. The bad thing is that he is sometimes suddenly mortal, that's the trick! /Woland/
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...he wasn't verbose this time. The only thing he said was that among human vices, he considers cowardice to be one of the most important. /Aphranius, about Yeshua/
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After all, you think about how you can be dead. /Azazello/
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Housekeepers know everything - it is a mistake to think that they are blind. /cat Behemoth/
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History will judge us. /cat Behemoth/
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Maestro! Shorten the march! /cat Behemoth/
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I don’t play pranks, I don’t hurt anyone, I fix the primus stove, and I also consider it my duty to warn that the cat is an ancient and inviolable animal. /cat Behemoth/
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I will be a silent hallucination. /cat Behemoth/
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I haven’t had coffee yet, how can I leave? /cat Behemoth/
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For mercy's sake... would I allow myself to pour vodka for the lady? This is pure alcohol! /cat Behemoth/
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It's nice to hear that you treat your cat so politely. For some reason, cats are usually called “you,” although not a single cat has ever drunk brotherhood with anyone. /cat Behemoth/
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...Everyone decorates himself with whatever he can... /Behemoth cat/
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...my wife, if only I had one, risked being a widow twenty times! But, fortunately, sir, I am not married, and I will tell you straight out that I am happy that I am not married. Ah, sir, is it possible to exchange single freedom for a painful yoke!.. /cat Behemoth/
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Love jumped out in front of us, like a killer jumps out of the ground in an alley, and struck us both at once! That's how lightning strikes, that's how a Finnish knife strikes! /Master/
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She carried yellow flowers! Bad color./Master/
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...in general, a person without a surprise inside, in his box, is uninteresting... /Master/
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...when people are completely robbed, like you and me, they seek salvation from an otherworldly force!../Master/
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...it never happens that everything will be as it was... /Master/
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No document, no person. /Koroviev/
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No, wait... I know what I'm getting into. But I go to any lengths because of him, because I have no hope for anything else in the world. But I want to tell you that if you destroy me, you will be ashamed! Yes, it's a shame! I'm dying for love! /Margarita/
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...still, even in pleasure you need to be at least a little prudent... /Margarita/
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...sadness before a long journey. Isn’t it true, sir, it is quite natural, even when a person knows that happiness awaits him at the end of this road?.. /Margarita/
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He didn't deserve light, he deserved peace. /Levi/
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...Intourists... How much you all adore foreign tourists! And among them, by the way, there are different ones... /Ivan Bezdomny/
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...I must admit that among intellectuals there are also extremely smart ones. This cannot be denied!../Ivan Bezdomny/
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All power is violence against people.
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A person without a surprise inside, in his box, is uninteresting.
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An unhappy person is cruel and callous. And all just because good people mutilated him.
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What would your good do if evil did not exist, and what would the earth look like if shadows disappeared from it?
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Understand that the tongue can hide the truth, but the eyes can never!
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No matter what pessimists say, the earth is still absolutely beautiful, and under the moon it is simply unique.
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Do you judge by the suit? Never do this. You can make a mistake, and a very big one at that.
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Eyes are a significant thing. Like a barometer. You can see who has a great dryness in their soul, who can poke the toe of a boot into their ribs for no reason, and who is afraid of everyone.
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Sometimes the best way to destroy a person is to let him choose his own fate.
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The most terrible anger is the anger of powerlessness.
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Evil lurks in men who avoid wine, games, the company of lovely women, and table conversation. Such people are either seriously ill or secretly hate those around them.
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Fact is the most stubborn thing in the world.
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He who loves must share the fate of the one he loves.
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We speak to you in different languages, as always, but the things we talk about do not change...
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I don’t understand! They sat peacefully, completely quietly, having a snack...
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The tongue can hide the truth, but the eyes never. Alarmed by the question, the truth from the bottom of the soul jumps into the eyes for a moment, and it is noticed, and you are caught
Loitering Elephant
And the verb “loiter” with the meaning “idly, to wander around without doing anything” comes not from an ordinary elephant, but from the daylight, which (in the eyes of the ancient Slavic farmers) wandered around the sky without doing anything. Well, if we meant an ordinary elephant, then why would it “stagger idly”? And where did the ancient Slavic peoples see huge Indian or African “miracle-yuds” staggering around doing nothing?
There were no zoos at all before. And the hardworking Slavs had no time. And if the Slavs had ancient zoos somewhere, I don’t think that all the animals worked there from morning to evening, except, of course, the loafing elephant wandering around the zoo.
And now the final question: “Is the lion a relative of the elephant?” Tell me, no? That's where we made a mistake. Some linguists say yes. The Slovenian word “elephant” comes, they say, from the Turkic word “aslan”, which means “lion”. So, after all, they are relatives, but only symbolic. According to solar symbolism, the lion and elephant are symbols of the Sun!
By the way, about the relationship between the “lunar” hippopotamus and the “solar” lion. An ordinary hippopotamus has almost no natural enemies in nature, except... a lion. Several lions can kill even an adult hippopotamus! I hope you’ve heard the catchphrase “I didn’t even notice the elephant”? Do you think it arose thanks to Krylov’s fable? But no. As you know, this expression denotes a person who did not see something important, obvious to many, i.e. something that is impossible not to notice. And now, already knowing that the elephant is the solar symbol of the Elephant/Sun, the reader will be able to come to the conclusion about the true origin of this ancient expression...
