{"id":255,"date":"2026-04-08T19:07:40","date_gmt":"2026-04-08T19:07:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alfoart.com\/derionzini-en\/?page_id=255"},"modified":"2026-05-16T20:27:49","modified_gmt":"2026-05-16T20:27:49","slug":"the-parrot-and-the-cherry-tree","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/alfoart.com\/derionzini-en\/the-parrot-and-the-cherry-tree\/","title":{"rendered":"Chapter I."},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Trophy Parrot and the Cherry Tree.<\/h1>\n\n\n
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Just a few months after the mysterious death of Second Lieutenant Pyotr Lyalin from rat poison, his inconsolable widow, Praskovya, married the hussar von Strahlborn, who happened to be quartered nearby. Before that, however, the widow had more urgent matters to attend to, namely, determining the inheritance shares for herself and her young daughters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Very little is known about the late husband himself, yet even the scattered surviving details are enough to paint a remarkably vivid portrait of a man whose biography was anything but ordinary for his circle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pyotr lost his father at an early age and was raised by his mother, Ekaterina Fedoseevna, alongside his only sister, Tatyana. By 1809, he was serving as a sub-ensign in the Life Guards Preobrazhensky Regiment. Judging by his age, he could almost have passed for Praskovya\u2019s father; she herself had been born in 1802.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lyalin took part in the war against Napoleon, but his military career then veered into a rather unfortunate direction. For unauthorized absences, stealing clothes from stores, and neglecting to pay tavern bills in full, he was personally demoted to the ranks by Barclay de Tolly and stripped of his nobility by court order, eventually finding himself in the Yaroslavl Infantry Regiment. Later, he was pardoned and, through persistence or sheer stubbornness, managed to regain the rank of second lieutenant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Trophy Parrot.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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The only genuine trophy Pyotr Ivanovich brought home from the war against Napoleon was a parrot. How exactly the exotic bird came into the possession of a Russian officer remains unknown. Perhaps it was won from a French marquis during a card game; perhaps Pyotr spent his last coins on it at a Paris market instead of purchasing desperately needed boots. In any case, the bird survived the long journey across Europe and eventually settled in Vladimir Province.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the Lyalin family, the women governed everything: the domineering mother, the severe sister Tatyana<\/a>, whose formidable character is described in detail in the memoirs of her goddaughter, and the young wife Praskovya. The parrot remained almost the only creature willing to accept Pyotr with all his virtues, flaws, and general impracticalities intact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One cannot help but picture the bird itself, Pyotr\u2019s favorite companion, perched in the cherry tree from which it solemnly devoured fruit while the household descended into one dispute after another. Thanks to the impressive longevity granted to parrots by nature, the bird outlived many of the principal characters, survived the entire family saga, and silently observed the changing cast of actors from its perch.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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From letters and testimonies, a curious image of Pyotr emerges. The reckless adventurer of his youth gradually transformed into a quiet, vulnerable, somewhat old-fashioned landowner. He was remembered as a kind neighbor, genuinely capable of admiring the virtues and successes of others without envy, though he managed his estate poorly enough that control of it effectively passed into the hands of his relatives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His sister Tatyana<\/a>, his only blood sibling, possessed a temperament opposite to her brother\u2019s adventurous inclinations. There was also an undercurrent of rivalry between them for their mother\u2019s affection. Tatyana had no children of her own and, according to her sister-in-law Praskovya, Ekaterina Fedoseevna increasingly favored her daughter over her son. Pyotr himself, apparently, felt this imbalance painfully, and it was said to have become one of the reasons for his sudden death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tatyana married Vasily Borisovich Zakharyin in 1812 and later took an active role in the lives of her nieces, having no children herself. She lived as a prosperous landowner, avoided extravagance, and considered it her duty to keep the financial affairs of her brother, sister-in-law, and nieces under careful supervision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The atmosphere in the house meanwhile thickened. Pyotr acutely felt that his mother favored his sister Tatyana Zakharyina (the future godmother of Sofya Tolstaya’s sister). It is possible that the family tension was also amplified by jealousy towards his young wife: brave hussars were quartered nearby, and the lines of an unknown poet could well have been written exactly about their pair:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are representatives of the nobility
Secretaries and all sorts of nonsense
There are young beauties
There are also jealous husbands
Dashing dandies in tailcoats\u2026<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Pyotr’s Final Letter and Inventory<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In 1830, Second Lieutenant Lyalin suddenly and severely fell ill. The physical ailment was accompanied by mental distress. Soon he died, leaving behind a young widow, two young daughters, and several letters. One of them, addressed to the local Marshal of Nobility Sergei Nikanorovich Bogdanov, contained the following lines \u2192<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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