The book by Yu. M. Lotman "Pushkin's novel "Eugene Onegin". Comment. The teacher's Guide " enjoys well-deserved popularity not only among teachers. While reading this book, we came across a discussion about the magic crystal. This is a fragment of the fiftieth stanza of the eighth chapter of Eugene Onegin:

And the distance of a free novel

I'm through the magic crystal

Still unclear to distinguish.

To interfere in the dispute of such experts as N. O. Lerner, M. F. Muryanov and Yu. M. Lotman is certainly an audacity. From the very beginning, we emphasize that we are trying to look at this problem not through the eyes of a Pushkinist, but only through the eyes of a lexicographer.

So, what's the argument about?

N. O. Lerner believed that the magic crystal is a glass ball for divination; lighting it from behind with the wavering flame of a candle, the diviner looks at the images that appear in the ball and tries to interpret them. (This method of divination is still known today and has even recently been shown on television.)

M. F. Muryanov did not agree with N. O. Lerner: glass is amorphous and has no crystal structure, and, therefore, Pushkin could not have had it in mind when talking about a magic crystal.

Yu. M. Lotman amended the interpretation of M. F. Muryanov:" ... the word "crystal" in high style could also mean glass" (here are convincing examples from the poems of G. R. Derzhavin and A. S. Pushkin).

N. O. Lerner and Yu. M. Lotman are certainly right. Here we want to clarify the meaning of the word crystal "glass". At the end of the XVIII-beginning

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In the 19th century, the noun crystal could have the following meanings:: 1. Special structure of some minerals - table salt, copper sulfate, etc. 2. Rock crystal (semi-precious stone), naturally formed in natural conditions (and, by the way, also having a crystal structure). 3. High-quality glass, characterized by high purity and transparency;

products made of such glass, especially faceted pendants for chandeliers and girandoles (what is called crystal in modern language: "they gave me a mountain of crystal for my wedding - wine glasses, glasses, vases, an ashtray"). The modern literary language has preserved (and developed) only the first of these meanings, and the development of meaning is associated with extralinguistic factors: crystallography has changed significantly since Pushkin's time; such a terminological phrase as liquid crystal, which was unthinkable at the beginning of the XIX century, has appeared. The second and third meanings in the modern language have disappeared; the third meaning is preserved in the derivative adjective crystal "absolutely transparent; very clean; flawless".

The words crystal and crystal are etymologically related. This can be read in the etymological dictionaries of M. Fasmer and P. Ya. Chernykh, and in V. V. Vinogradov ("History of Words"); at one time we also clarified some points related to the penetration of these words into the Russian language (Arapova N. S. Kristall and kristall / / Russian language at school. 1978. N 3), so it doesn't make sense to repeat yourself. Let's just briefly say that both words are derived from Greek, while kristall is an Old Russian borrowing from the Greek language of the Byzantine period, and kristall is a later borrowing from scientific Latin.

Until the beginning of the 19th century, crystal and crystal were synonymous: the three meanings of the word crystal already given were also the word crystal. By the middle of the XVIII century, the word crystal was no longer perceived as a foreign borrowing, it was completely Russified. Therefore, it was possible to use it for semantic calculation of the French cristal, which had the following meanings: 1. "crystal"; 2."high-quality glass". In the texts of the XVIII century, we find not only the word crystal in the meaning of "crystal", but also its derivatives crystal (l)from (ir)to become "crystallized", crystal (l) from the word "crystallization". So, in the Mineralogy of I. G. Valery (1763) we read: "Gypsum crystals, gypsum druses... there are crustallized and figured gypsum ... different from spar crystals and druses." These derivatives were used by the authors of chemical studies in the first quarter of the XIX century.

So, in the etymological dictionaries of the modern Russian language, there should be two articles: 1. Crystal mineral, "rock crystal" - an Old Russian borrowing from the Greek language of the Byzantine period. 2. Crystal "high-quality glass; products made from such

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glass "is probably a semantic tracing paper of the French cristal, which appeared in the middle of the XVIII century: the expression crystal French tableware is noted in the" Auction of Amsterdam "(1763. Vol. 2); " Cristal... crystal, the whitest and purest glass" (Soc I. New lexicon or dictionary in French, Italian, German and Latin. 1784. Vol. 1). It is true that V. V. Vinogradov, referring to Sreznevsky's Dictionary, attributed the origin of this meaning to the XV-XVI centuries, but from the examples given by him it is unclear which crystal we are talking about - glass or the mineral rock crystal.

The crystal buttons mentioned in the "Horse Device of Tsar Boris Fyodorovich Godunov" were most likely made of rock crystal, since at that time it was customary to decorate rich ceremonial clothing with buttons made of precious stones ("Odnoryadka skorlatna.., and her buttons are lal [rubies. - N. A.] "- Dukhovnaya Dmitri Ivanovich 1509-Sreznevsky I. I. Materials for the dictionary of the Old Russian language. SPb., 1893-1912. Vol. 2). For the word crystal Sreznevsky gave only one meaning - "mountain crystal".

Let us turn to the quotations from Derzhavin and Pushkin, to which Yu. M. Lotman referred. The first one is taken from the" Grandee "by G. R. Derzhavin:" Not idols behind a crystal (i.e. under glass. - Yu. L.), In the kivots they shine with metal..." Derzhavin did not write glass, but crystal, not just for rhyme: the decor of the Grandee's house is emphasized, ostentatiously luxurious, and even the glass of his "kivots" is not simple, but high-quality.

The second quote is Pushkin's line "... reflected in the crystal of shaky waters. "Yu. M. Lotman explained: "" that is, in the glass, in the mirror of waters." Here we seem to be dealing with gallicism: fr. "Ie cristal des eaux" poet. Mirror of Waters (French-Russian dictionary. Compiled by Prof. K. A. Ganshina, 3rd Moscow, 1957)

".

To sum up, we will assume that the magic crystal is the glass ball of the clairvoyant; this ball is made of crystal glass.

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