Soyuzmultfilm
"Mumu" based on the tale by I.Turgenev
Subtitles by Niffiwan, partially using Constance Garnett's translation.
In one of the outlying streets of Moscow,
there once lived a lady, a widow,
surrounded by a numerous household of serfs.
Her day, a joyless and gloomy day, had long been over;
and the evening of her life was blacker than night.
Because of this, she was tantrum-prone and capricious.
In her house lived comates, laundresses, sempstresses,
carpenters, tailors and tailoresses,
a harness-maker, and a household doctor for the mistress.
Of all her servants, the most remarkable person was the deaf and dumb porter, Gerasim.
He missed his home dearly,
but a man can get used to anything,
and Gerasim got used at last to city life.
Among these servants was a laundress named Tatiana.
At one time she had passed for a beauty,
but her good looks had left her very early;
she did the work of two, but had never known any affection.
She took his fancy, whether by the mild expression of her face,
or the timidity of her movements, who can tell?
The mistress also had a shoemaker, named Kapiton.
A sad drunkard.
The lady regretted the corrupted morals of Kapiton,
And so she proposed to the head steward:
Why don't we marry Kapiton?
Perhaps he'll become steadier.
I fancy he likes Tatiana.
Yes! ...let him marry Tatiana!
So passed a year
Kapiton became a hopeless drunkard.
and as being absolutely of no use for anything,
was sent away in the spring to a distant village with Tatiana.
With the first store wagons.
All night did Gerasim look after the pup.
No mother could have looked after her baby
as Gerasim looked after his little nursling.
He had even given her a name - "Mumu".
Mumu fulfilled that spiritual emptiness
which Gerasim had after the departure of Tatiana.
The loneliness which had tortured and worried him
suddenly vanished.
He now gave all of his love and attachment
to the little living creature, Mumu.
Upon seeing Mumu, the lady cried out:
Mercy! But it's a charming little dog!
Order it to be brought in.
Oh, how stupid she is! Take her away from here!
A wretched little dog!
What trifles, if you think of it, will sometimes disturb anyone!
The lady liked to pretend that she was a bent and widowed sufferer.
"Can some wretched dog really be more prized than my own life?"
she complained,
and the head steward promised that tomorrow, the dog would not be among the living.
The head steward tried to explain to Gerasim that the lady was dissatisfied with him,
and that he must hand over the dog at once,
or it would be the worse for him.
Gerasim hurried without looking back.
He hurried home to his own village,
to his home land,
as though his old mother were waiting for him, and calling him,
after a long journey among foreign lands and foreign people.
Screenplay A.Kostinskiy, V.Karavayev
Director V.Karavayev
Art directors G.Melko, G.Arkadyev
Camera - V.Strukov Composer - A.Raskatov Sound operator - V.Kutuzov
Animators: Y.Kulakov, L.Lobanova, A.Abarenov
Y.Kuzurin, N.Bogomolova, V.Kolesnikova, Y.Malashenkova,
V.Shilobreyev, R.Mitrofanov
Artists A.Atamanova, N.Demidova
V.Kharitonova, V.Makina, M.Ryabikova
Narrator A.Kalyagin
Assistant director - L.Morozova Editor - I.Gerasimova
Script editor - Y.Nikitkina Film group director - O.Khruleva
The End (C) Soyuzmultfilm film studio