Timsāḥ: Persian 1401

Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoyevsky, who, according to Joseph Brodsky, completely revolutionized Russian prose, published a story called "Crocodile" in 1865; The story of a dignified and noble man who was swallowed by a crocodile and survived for two weeks in perfect health in the stomach of that creature and gave a speech without stopping! In fact, the story written by Fyodor Mikhailovich was supposed to be that if on that day of January 13, 1865, Elena did not have the urge to look at the crocodile, perhaps this dear friend, cultured, accomplished, and dignified and a member of the tsar's administrative system, would never have been in its stomach. It didn't get stuck! However, dear Elena, she wanted both to tour the arcades and to see the crocodile, and that's why the unexpected happened and this administrative character with the necessary perfections of a Russian employee of the 19th century was swallowed without hesitation! But this is not the whole story; Mr. Dostoyevsky, his irony and critical thinking along with the psychological, philosophical, and political ideas in the book "Crocodile" and the story of the Russian employee trapped in the crocodile's stomach, are related to a mythological story and the Old Testament, as if it were a theological story as Borges said. It is connected with imagination and at the same time, through Dostoevsky influenced by Balzac, it has maintained its links with reality! This strange concoction is the mastery of a writer who makes possible ideological and philosophical turns with humor in a way that we did not expect and that is why Dostoyevsky's crocodile should be read.