The mysterious life and death of Rasputin - Eden Girma

Translator: Mónica Martín Palmas Reviewer: Anna Comas-Quinn

On a cold winter night in 1916,

Una nit freda d'hivern de l'any 1916,

Felix Yusupov anxiously prepared to pick up his dinner guest.

Felix Yusupov preparava nerviós la benvinguda del seu convidat a sopar.

If all went as planned, his guest would be dead by morning,

Si tot anava segons havia planejat, el convidat seria mort a l'albada,

though four others had already tried and failed to finish him off.

tot i que anteriorment quatre persones havien fracassat a l'hora d'aniquilar-lo.

The Russian monarchy was on the brink of collapse,

La monarquia russa era a punt de caure

and to Yusupov and his fellow aristocrats,

i segons Yusupov i els seus companys aristòcrates,

the holy man they’d invited to dinner was the single cause of it all.

l'home sant que havien convidat a sopar n'era l'únic culpable.

But who was he,

Però, qui era,

and how could a single monk be to blame for the fate of an empire?

i com podia un simple monjo ser culpable del destí d'un imperi?

Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin began his life in Siberia,

Grigori Iefímovitx Rasputin començà la seva vida a Sibèria

born in 1869 to a peasant family.

l'any 1869, fill d'una família pagesa.

He might have lived a life of obscurity in his small village,

Podria haver viscut una vida fosca al seu petit llogaret

if not for his conversion to the Russian Orthodox Church

si no s'hagués convertit a l'Església Ortodoxa Russa a la dècada de 1890.

in the 1890s.

Inspired by the humbled monks that wandered endlessly

Inspirat pels humils monjos que voltaven contínuament

from holy site to holy site,

de lloc sagrat en lloc sagrat,

he spent years on pilgrimages across Russia.

va passar anys peregrinant per tota Rússia.

On his travels, strangers were captivated by Rasputin’s magnetic presence.

En els seus viatges, la seva presència magnètica embadalia la gent.

Some even believed he had mystical gifts of prediction and healing.

Alguns fins i tot creien que posseïa poders místics d'adivinació i curació.

Despite Rasputin’s heavy drinking, petty theft, and promiscuity,

Malgrat l'alcoholisme, els furts i la promiscuïtat d'en Rasputin,

his reputation as a monk quickly spread beyond Siberia

la seva reputació com a monjo aviat es va estendre més enllà de Sibèria

and attracted both laypeople and powerful Orthodox clergymen.

i va atraure tant a laics com al poderós clergat ortodox.

When he finally reached the capital, St. Petersburg,

Quan finalment arribà a la capital, Sant Petersburg,

Rasputin used his charisma and connections

Rasputin utilitzà el seu carisma i els seus contactes

to win favor with the imperial family’s spiritual advisor.

per guanyar-se el favor del conseller espiritual de la família imperial.

In November 1905,

Al novembre de 1905,

Rasputin was finally introduced to Russian Tsar Nicholas II.

Rasputin va ser presentat davant el tsar rus Nicolau II.

Nicholas and his wife Alexandra devoutly believed in the Orthodox Church,

Nicolau i la seva muller Alexandra eren devots de l'Església Ortodoxa

as well as in mysticism and supernatural powers,

així com del misticisme i dels poders sobrenaturals,

and this Siberian holy man had them transfixed.

i aquest home sant siberià els deixava bocabadats.

It was a particularly tumultuous period for Russia and their family.

Era un període especialment tumultuós per a Rússia i la seva família.

The monarchy was barely clinging to control

La monarquia amb prou feines mantenia el control des de la Revolució del 1905.

after the Revolution of 1905.

Their political struggles were only intensified by personal turmoil:

Les seves lluites polítiques s'agreujaven amb dificultats personals:

Alexei, the heir to the throne,

Alexei, l'hereu al tron,

had a life-threatening blood disease called hemophilia.

tenia hemofília, una malaltia de la sang que feia perillar la seva vida.

When Alexei suffered a severe medical crisis in 1912,

Quan l'Alexei va patir una greu crisi de salut l'any 1902,

Rasputin advised his parents to reject treatment from doctors.

Rasputin va recomanar als seus pares que rebutgessin el tractament dels metges.

Alexei’s health improved, cementing the royal family’s belief

La salut de l'Alexei va millorar, tot alimentant la creença de la família

that Rasputin had magical healing powers,

en els poders màgics de curació d'en Rasputin

and guaranteeing his privileged place on the royal court.

i garantint-li un lloc privilegiat dins la cort imperial

Today, we know that the doctors had prescribed aspirin,

Actualment sabem que els doctors li havien receptat aspirina,

a drug that worsens hemophilia.

un medicament que empitjora l'hemofília.

After this incident, Rasputin made a prophecy:

Després, en Rasputin va profetitzar

if he died, or the royal family deserted him,

que si moria, o la família imperial l'abandonava,

both their son and their crown would soon be gone.

tant el seu fill com la seva corona no trigarien a desaparèixer.

Outside the royal family, people had mixed views on Rasputin.

Fora de la família imperial, la gent tenia opinions dispars sobre en Rasputin.

On one hand, peasants regarded him as one of their own,

Per una banda, els pagesos el consideraven un dels seus

amplifying their often-unheard voice to the monarchy.

que feia sentir la seva veu sovint silenciada a la monarquia.

But nobles and clergymen came to despise his presence.

Però la noblesa i el clergat menyspreaven la seva presència.

Rasputin never ceased his scandalous behavior,

Rasputin mai no va redreçar la seva escandalosa conducta,

and they were skeptical of his so-called powers

i eren escèptics pel que feia als seus suposats poders

and thought he was corrupting the royal family.

i pensaven que corrompia a la família imperial.

By the end of World War I,

Al final de la Primera Guerra Mundial,

they were convinced the only way to maintain order

estaven convençuts que l'única manera de mantenir el poder

was to eliminate this sham of a holy man.

era eliminar aquest home sant impostor.

With this conviction,

Ben convençut, Yusupov començà a maquinar l'assassinat d'en Rasputin.

Yusupov began to plot Rasputin’s assassination.

Though the exact details remain mysterious,

Malgrat que els detalls exactes continuen sent un misteri,

our best guess at how it all unfolded comes from Yusupov’s memoirs.

la millor suposició de com va succeir tot prové de les memòries d'en Yusupov.

He served Rasputin a number of pastries, believing they contained cyanide.

Va servir a en Rasputin uns quants dolços, convençut de que contenien cianur.

But unbeknownst to Yusupov,

Però en Yusupov desconeixia

one of his co-conspirators had a change of heart,

que un dels seus còmplices conspiradors havia canviat d'idea

and substituted the poison with a harmless substance.

i havia substituït el verí per una substància innòcua.

To Yusupov’s shock, Rasputin ate them without ill effect.

Per a sorpresa d'en Yusupov, Rasputin se'ls menjà sense cap efecte negatiu.

In desperation, he shot Rasputin at point-blank range.

Desesperat, disparà a en Rasputin a boca de canó.

But Rasputin recovered, punched his attacker, and fled.

Però en Rasputin es va recuperar, donà un cop de puny a l'atacant i fugí.

Yusupov and his accomplices pursued him,

Yusupov i els seus còmplices el van perseguir

finally killing Rasputin with a bullet to the forehead

i finalment el mataren d'un tret al front

and dumping his body in the Malaya Nevka river.

i tiraren el seu cos al riu Neva.

But far from stabilizing the monarchy’s authority,

Lluny d'estabilitzar l'autoritat imperial,

Rasputin’s death enraged the peasantry.

la mort d'en Rasputin va enfurismar la pagesia.

Just as Rasputin prophesied,

Tal com Rasputin havia profetitzat,

his murder was swiftly followed by that of the royal family.

el seu assassinat va anar seguit del de la família imperial.

Whether the downfall of the Russian monarchy

Si la caiguda de la família imperial russa

was a product of the monk’s curse,

va ser resultat de la maledicció del monjo

or the result of political tensions decades in the making,

o conseqüència de les tensions polítiques de les dècades anteriors,

well, we may never know.

bé, potser no ho sabrem mai.