Alexander Grin (1880 – 1932) is a very special writer of a very peculiar talent of romantic imagination. His life, full of privations, fell on very hard and severe times of Russian history. Feeling very lonely among his colleagues – realists, who concentrated only upon the burning issues of the day, he was not heard in the thundering years of October revolution. Being not properly understood by his contemporaries, he lived in his own phantasmagoric world, let us call it Grinland, based on eternal values, those three “whales”: Love, Humanity and Beauty of a human soul. As if to counterbalance the cruel reality, he populated his Land of imagination with generous people with their pure hearts opened for beautiful high intentions and their lives full of risk and adventures. He believed in fairy-tales coming true and kind magicians possessing the cherished secret of happiness. Most of his characters are incorrigible dreamers who know one simple truth: “It consists in making so-called miracles with one’s own hands ... When somebody’s soul conceals the seed of a flaming plant, a miracle, make this miracle for him, if you can. He will get a renewed soul and so will you.” Grin, this Knight of a Dream, a poet of Beautiful Uncertainty, knows that for certain. So does Asoule, the main character of “Scarlet Sails”, whose belief in her exalted dream is so strong and passionate that it begins to come true. So does Gray, who knows how to make an “ordinary miracle” with his own hands. So do I, whose own life has been transformed under the magic influence of this book. And I will tell you something in strict confidence: this fairy story may penetrate into your own reality. There is one important “if”: if you believe in miracles. Then it is quite possible that the flaming fire of Grin’s romantic soul may light up the right way for the fairy ship of your Dream... I wish you a happy voyage!
I dedicate my translation to Nair Sharif, the man who knows for certain what “making so-called miracles with one’s own hands” means.
Helen Sharif, who tried to translate this book, just to make it closer to you.