The Assistant Producer by Vladimir Nabokov. Short summary

5 seconds

The main character is about to visit a movie and says that sometimes life can act as an assistant director. He watches a movie whose events actually took place.

1 minute

The protagonist is about to visit a movie and says that sometimes life can act as an assistant director. He recalls a famous singer. She was born in a Russian city, but after a while reached Moscow and St. Petersburg. The singer could still perform, but when the Revolution and the struggle of the Reds and Whites began, she chose a more practical party.

The audience watches as ghostly Cossacks ride ghostly horses. General Golubkov surveys the battlefield through theatrical binoculars; he soon climbs into the saddle and gallops quickly into the attack.

Amidst the machine-gun fire a woman’s voice appears. The woman was the singing soul of the battalion. She walked ahead and sang about the Volga-Volga. Golubkov at a gallop picks up the beating prey and rushes her into the distance.

The narrator recalls how life itself played out this scenario. He knew at least two eyewitnesses to this event. The beautiful captive sweetened the bitterness of White’s retreat, which began soon after her appearance in Golubkov’s camp.