The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov | Book 1
Enter the surreal and thought-provoking world of The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov.
This cult novel blends satire, philosophy, and the supernatural as the mysterious Woland arrives in Moscow, turning reality upside down. Alongside him, unforgettable characters like The Master and Margarita navigate a world of love, power, and truth.
📚 Why you should listen:
• One of the greatest novels of the 20th century
• A unique mix of fantasy, romance, and political satire
• Perfect for deep thinkers and literature lovers
🎧 Ideal for:
• English learners
• Fans of philosophical fiction
• Audiobook enthusiasts
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⏱ Timestamps
0:00 Prologue
0:04 CHAPTER 1
27:55 CHAPTER 2
1:22:15 CHAPTER 3
1:33:09 CHAPTER 4
1:49:38 CHAPTER 5
2:16:38 CHAPTER 6
2:34:24 CHAPTER 7
2:58:29 CHAPTER 8
3:18:00 CHAPTER 9
3:38:41 CHAPTER 10
4:04:16 CHAPTER 11
4:12:10 CHAPTER 12
4:44:04 CHAPTER 13
5:25:24 CHAPTER 14
5:44:40 CHAPTER 15
6:12:32 CHAPTER 16
6:39:39 CHAPTER 17
7:07:17 CHAPTER 18
Book One
Chapter I: Never Talk with Strangers
Patriarch’s Ponds: Bulgakov uses the old name for what in 1918 was rechristened ‘Pioneer Ponds’. Originally these were three ponds, only one of which remains, on the place where Philaret, eighteenth-century patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church, had his residence.
Massolit: An invented but plausible contraction parodying the many contractions introduced in post-revolutionary Russia. There will be others further on - Dramlit House (House for Dramatists and Literary Workers), findirector (financial director), and so on.
Poodle’s head: In Goethe’s Faust, Mephistopheles first gets to Faust by taking the form of a black poodle.
foreigner: Foreigners aroused both curiosity and suspicion in Soviet Russia, representing both the glamour of ’abroad’ and the possibility of espionage.
Solovki: A casual name for the ‘Solovetsky Special Purpose Camps’ located on the site of a former monastery on the Solovetsky Islands in the White Sea. They were of especially terrible renown during the thirties. The last prisoners were loaded on a barge and drowned in the White Sea in 1939.
Komsomol: Contraction of the Union of Communist Youth, which all good Soviet young people were expected to join.
A Russian émigré: Many Russians opposed to the revolution emigrated abroad, forming important ’colonies’ in various capitals - Berlin, Paris, Prague, Harbin, Shanghai — where they remained potential spies and interventionists.
Yershalaim: An alternative transliteration from Hebrew of the name of Jerusalem. In certain other cases as well, Bulgakov has preferred the distancing effect of these alternatives: Yeshua for Jesus, Kaifa for Caiaphas, Kiriath for Iscariot.
Yeshua: Aramaic for ‘the lord is salvation’. Ha-Nozri means ‘of Nazareth’, the town in Galilee where Jesus lived before beginning his public ministry.
What is truth?: Pilate’s question to Christ in the Gospel of John (18:38).
the Susa gate Also known as the Golden gate, on the east side of Jerusalem, facing the Mount of Olives.
Judas from Kiriath: Bulgakov’s variant of Judas Iscariot is developed quite differently from the Judas of the Gospel accounts, though they have in common their betrayal and the reward they get for it from the high priest.
Bald Mountain: Also referred to in the novel as Bald Hill and Bald Skull, the site corresponds to the Golgotha Cplace of the skull‘) of the Gospels
Kaifa: Bulgakov’s variant of the name of the high priest Caiaphas, mentioned in the Gospels and in historical records.
Kaifa politely apologized: Going under the roof of a gentile would have made the high priest unclean and therefore unable to celebrate the coming feast.
Bar-Rabban or Ha-Nozri?: The same choice is offered in the Gospel accounts (see Matt. 27:15-23, Mark 15:6-15, John 19:39-40).
Housing shortages created Soviet communal apartments; each family used a primus stove, a key symbol in The Master and Margarita.
dachas: The Russian dacha (pronounced DA-tcha) is a summer or country house.
coachmen: Though increasingly replaced by automobiles, horse-drawn cabs were still in use in Moscow until around 1940. Thus the special tribe of Russian coachmen persisted long after their western counterparts disappeared.
Kulak: (Russian for ‘fist’) refers to the class of wealthy peasants, which Stalin ordered liquidated in 1930.
a metal man: This is the poet Pushkin
findirector: Typical Soviet contraction for financial director.
The Covetous Knight: One of Pushkin’s ‘little tragedies’, written in 1830, about the demonic and destructive fascination of gold.
As a young scapegrace ... some sly strumpet: The first two lines of the baron’s opening monologue in scene two of The Covetous Knight.
cisco: A northern variety of whitefish caught in Lake Baikal.
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