Anton Delvig
A baron and poet, Pushkin's school friend, who published the almanac Northern Flowers and the Literary Gazette.
An Island Surrounded by Quarantines
Alexander Pushkin, letters from Boldino, 1830, in his Works, vol. 6, edited by S. A. Vengerov (1915) · October–November 1830
Посылаю тебѣ, Баронъ, Вассальскую мою подать, именуемую Цвѣточною, по той причинѣ что платится она въ ноябрѣ въ самую пору цвѣтовъ. Доношу тебѣ, моему Владѣльцу, что нынѣшняя осень была дѣтородна, и что коли твой смиренный Вассалъ не околѣетъ отъ сарацинскаго падежа, Холерой именуемаго, и занесеннаго намъ крестовыми воинами т. е. бурлаками, то въ замкѣ твоемъ, Литературной Газетѣ, пѣсни трубадуровъ неумолкнутъ круглый годъ.
I send you, Baron, my vassal’s tax, called the Flower Tax because it is paid in November, right in the season of flowers. I report to you, my Lord, that this autumn has been fruitful, and that if your humble vassal does not drop dead of the Saracen murrain called Cholera, brought to us by crusaders, that is, by barge haulers, then the songs of troubadours will not fall silent all year round in your castle, the Literary Gazette.