A summary of "The Maecenas’s Joke" by Arkady Averchenko

This humorous novel, written in 1923 while in exile, was the author’s last major work. The plot revolves around a large-scale bohemian hoax, in which a group of bored metropolitan aesthetes attempt to portray a naive provincial writer as a genius, but ultimately fall into the trap themselves. The narrative recreates the atmosphere of pre-revolutionary literary St. Petersburg through the prism of satire and gentle melancholy.

Prehistory and St. Petersburg bohemia

The novel is preceded by an ironic autobiographical essay. The author humorously describes his birth in Sevastopol, his childhood reluctance to study, his work in a sleepy transport office, and his difficult years in the coal mines of Donbas. He later moved to Kharkiv, where he actively published satirical magazines, and then went to St. Petersburg and founded the famous "Satyricon."

The main action takes the reader to the spacious apartment of a wealthy patron of the arts, nicknamed Maecenas. This gifted but utterly idle man languishes in laziness and boredom, surrounded by oriental carpets, weapons, and paintings. The household is run by the grumpy old nanny, Anna Matveyevna, whom her friends call by the resonant Latin name "Calvia Crispinilla."

The rich man is surrounded by a permanent retinue of hangers-on, calling themselves "minions." Among them, the nervous poet Pasha Kruglyansky, nicknamed "Motylek," stands out, his mobile face covered in a network of bizarre wrinkles. The company is rounded out by the phlegmatic reporter and chess player Kuzya, who eats oranges with the peel, and the giant student Novakovich, nicknamed "The Bodyguard," renowned for his remarkable strength and incredible inventions.

The patron brought these companions together by chance: he met Kuzya over a chessboard in a coffee shop, met Moth in a bookstore window, and Novakovich saved him from card sharpers in the Jordan tavern. The rich man generously pays for any expenses his charges incur, demanding in return only lively conversation and relief from spiritual emptiness.

The appearance of the Doll and the plan of the prank

One day, the Bodyguard brings a shy, cherubic-looking young man, Valentin Nikolaevich Shelkovnikov, into the living room. For his doll-like good looks, the nanny immediately nicknames the guest "Doll." The young man confesses his boundless love for poetry and recites naive verses about an old woman creaking in a steppe hut.

The bored Maecenas and his friends decide to amuse themselves with their guest’s boundless naivety. They shower the young man with hypocritical admiration, praising his verse for its brevity and depth. Kuzya immediately publishes laudatory articles about the new star of Russian poetry in the newspapers, comparing Shelkovnikov to the classics and hinting at the Pushkin Prize.

Shelkovnikov implicitly believes in the printed word and greets the jokers with tears of affection and gratitude. He sincerely considers them the best people in the world and vows to live up to their expectations with hard work. Motylek revels in the success of his undertaking: the embittered poet yearns to elevate mediocrity to the pinnacle of fame, only to then publicly ridicule the blind public and critics.

The Princess and the Apple Tree

The events involve two completely different women. Maecenas’s wife, Vera Antonovna, is known in the circle as the Princess. This dazzling beauty, with the body of a marble statue, is distinguished by her phenomenal laziness. Avoiding even the slightest domestic hustle and bustle, she lives separately from her husband, spending her days half-asleep on soft sofas.

Her complete opposite is Nina Ikonnikova, nicknamed "Apple Tree in Bloom." A bright, sincere, and cheerful girl, she captivates everyone with her genuine kindness and open outlook on the world. Her servants treat her with chivalrous respect, and the powerful Novakovich falls hopelessly in love with this pure-hearted beauty.

Celebration at Karavannaya and the secretary’s post

On Vera Antonovna’s birthday, the group gathers in a Caucasian cellar on Karavannaya Street. An enraged Moth bursts in. He had left the magazine "Vershiny" in a scandal because the editor had flatly refused to publish his excessively long poem about a pearl oyster.

Moth sends the simple-minded Doll to take the vacant secretary’s position, expecting the newcomer to be quickly disgraced. However, the editor eagerly accepts the young man, praised by the newspapers. Moreover, Shelkovnikov makes the publication of Moth’s poems a condition of his employment, which drives the vain, envious man into a sullen rage.

In the cellar, Novakovich, for fun, convinces Doll that Vera Antonovna is a true royal who escaped in a hot air balloon from a forced marriage to an Abyssinian ruler. The trusting young man charms the Princess with his polite manners and receives an invitation to tea.

Coronation and table revelations

In Maecenas’s living room, a lavish, mocking ceremony is held to crown Dolly with a crown of gold paper and stained glass. Yablochka, unaware of the cruel mockery, places the crown on the touched youth’s curly head amidst tumultuous shouts and the sounds of the piano.

After the ceremony, the group settles down on the carpet around a large vase of punch. The patron invites everyone to share an amazing story from their lives. Novakovich concocts a ridiculous tale about a dolphin that got stuck in a ship’s porthole, creating the perfect darkness for a romantic encounter. Kuzya describes a two-legged dog that has learned to balance deftly and race around the yard like a bicycle.

Moth shares a dark memory of a strange artist drinking in a tavern while his dead wife lay on the floor at home among rats. A patron of the arts bitterly recounts how he tricked a violent, insane friend into committing him to a sanitarium, still reeling from his desperate cries of betrayal. Apple Tree recalls a red-haired thief who gave her stolen goods and died in the hospital in her arms. The girl’s story moves the poet to tears.

Unexpected twists of fate

The young writer’s popularity is rapidly growing, despite the conspirators’ will. Newspaper reporters come to him with absurd questions, and the venerable, gray-bearded writer personally delivers his manuscript, ingratiating himself with the new editorial secretary.

Soon, Shelkovnikov seeks a secret meeting with Maecenas. The embarrassed young man confesses that Vera Antonovna has lost her mind from sudden passion: she bombards him with letters, waits in his carriage, and persistently seeks meetings. The Princess’s sleepy indolence has vanished without a trace. The Doll is burdened by this pressure, for his heart is lost to another.

The shocked Maecenas can barely conceal his emotional shock at his wife’s sudden awakening. Maintaining his composure, he advises the young man to send his obsessive admirer a portrait of his beloved with the inscription, "My Bride." Soon, Novakovich sees Vera Antonovna in tears and finds a torn photograph of Yablonka near the couch.

The end of the hoax

The servants gather again in Maecenas’s parlor, facing a series of bitter defeats. Kuzya sadly admits that he lost a large sum of money to Dolly in a game of chess. Motylek is horrified to learn that the reputable publishing house "Albatross" has bought the manuscript of Shelkovnikov’s book of poetry.

A beaming Doll and a confused Apple Tree enter the room. It turns out the previous editor has moved to a newspaper, and the publisher has appointed Shelkovnikov as the magazine’s new director. The young man shows the galley proofs of his book. He’s deliberately crossed out the children’s poem about the old woman, explaining that he once read it only in chronological order.

The doll announces her engagement to Yablonka and her upcoming trip to Florence to work on a commissioned novel. The cruel prank turns into a triumph of innocence: the hero gains literary clout, leadership of a magazine, wealth, and the love of a beautiful woman.

A stunned Maecenas urges his friends to cast off their despondency and head for the Volga. A year later, time returns everything to normal: in the dimly lit living room, Maecenas is sculpting a bust of Moth, Novakovich is lifting weights, Kuzya is enjoying an orange, and the kind nanny is scolding the eternal slackers as usual.