''Dersu Uzala'' (; alternate U.S. titles: ''With Dersu the Hunter'' and ''Dersu the Trapper'') is a 1923 memoir by the Russian explorer Vladimir Arsenyev, concerning his travels in the

Russian Far East The Russian Far East ( rus, Дальний Восток России, p=ˈdalʲnʲɪj vɐˈstok rɐˈsʲiɪ) is a region in North Asia. It is the easternmost part of Russia and the Asia, Asian continent, and is coextensive with the Far Easte ...

with the Goldi hunter Dersu Uzala. The story was made into a 1975 film '' Dersu Uzala'', directed by

Akira Kurosawa was a Japanese filmmaker who List of works by Akira Kurosawa, directed 30 feature films in a career spanning six decades. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential filmmakers in the History of film, history of cinema ...

Plot

Arsenyev tells of his travels in the

Ussuri The Ussuri ( ; ) or Wusuli ( ) is a river that runs through Khabarovsk and Primorsky Krais, Russia and the southeast region of Northeast China in the province of Heilongjiang. It rises in the Sikhote-Alin mountain range, flowing north and formi ...

basin in the

. Dersu Uzala (c. 1849–1908) was a Goldi hunter who acted as a guide for Arsenyev's surveying crew mapping the

taiga Taiga or tayga ( ; , ), also known as boreal forest or snow forest, is a biome characterized by coniferous forests consisting mostly of pines, spruces, and larches. The taiga, or boreal forest, is the world's largest land biome. In North A ...

from 1902 to 1907 and saved them from starvation and cold. Arsenyev portrays him as a simple yet great man, an

animist Animism (from meaning 'breath, spirit, life') is the belief that objects, places, and creatures all possess a distinct spiritual essence. Animism perceives all things—animals, plants, rocks, rivers, weather systems, human handiwork, and in ...

who sees animals and plants as equal to man. From 1907, Arsenyev invited Dersu to live in his house in

Khabarovsk Khabarovsk ( ) is the largest city and the administrative centre of Khabarovsk Krai, Russia,Law #109 located from the China–Russia border, at the confluence of the Amur and Ussuri Rivers, about north of Vladivostok. As of the 2021 Russian c ...

as Dersu's failing sight hampered his ability to live as a hunter. In the spring of 1908, Dersu bade farewell to Arsenyev and walked back toward his home in the woods of the

Primorsky Krai Primorsky Krai, informally known as Primorye, is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject (a krais of Russia, krai) of Russia, part of the Far Eastern Federal District in the Russian Far East. The types of inhabited localities in Russia, ...

; he was killed before he could reach them, near the town of Korfovskiy, evidently for the highly valuable latest model Russian military rifle given to him by Arsenyev as a parting gift to replace his old, worn, Berdianka. He was buried in a hastily dug grave, unmarked but for Dersu's walking stick, stuck in the earth beside it by a heartsick Arsenyev.

Historical accuracy

According to Arsenyev's diary, he met the historical Dersu in 1906, not 1902. It appears that the Dersu character is a composite of several trappers who Arsenyev met during his expedition. In reality, although Arsenyev was heartbroken by Dersu's murder, he was unable to find his grave.

Editions in Russian

*Дерсу Узала. Сквозь тайгу Издательство: Терра - Книжный клуб (1997) Н. Е. Кабанова (ed.) (English: ''Dersu Uzala''. Taiga Publishing House: Terra Book Club) (1997) N. ya. Kabanov (ed.) )

English translations

*''Dersu the Trapper'', translated by Malcolm Burr from the heavily redacted 1926 edition (In the wilds of the Ussuri krai) **Pub: Secker & Warburg, London 1939. First English edition. **Pub: E. P. Dutton & Co., Inc. New York: 1941. First American edition. **Pub: McPherson and others, 1996, 2001. . Mass market paperback. *''Dersu Uzala'', translated by Victor Shneerson from the heavily redacted 1944 edition **Pub: Foreign Languages Publishing House, Moscow, ca 1950 **Pub: Raduga Publishers, Moscow 1990, **Pub: University Press of the Pacific 2004 *''With Dersu the Hunter: Adventures in the Taiga'', adapted by Anne Terry White. A shortened version of Shneerson's 1950 translation. **Pub:

George Braziller George Braziller (February 12, 1916 – March 16, 2017) was an American book publisher and the founder of George Braziller, Inc., a firm known for its literary and artistic books and its publication of foreign authors. Life and career Braziller ...

1965, A Venture Book, New York.

Film adaptations

*(1961) '' Dersu Uzala'' ()

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

, director Agasi Babayan *(1975) '' Dersu Uzala'' () Soviet Union/

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

, director

References

External links

Dersu Uzala Info
{{Authority control 1923 non-fiction books Soviet novels Primorsky Krai