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English Learning for Curious Minds, Episode 268; Grigori Rasputin: The Mad Monk [2]

Episode 268; Grigori Rasputin: The Mad Monk [2]

The clock was ticking.

A group of conservatives formed a plan to kill Rasputin and save the monarchy from more scandal.

This group included one of the richest men in Russia, Prince

Feliks Yusupov, who was also the husband of the tsar's niece.

The plan was to lure Rasputin to Yusupov's home, Moika

Palace, and on December 30th of 1916, Rasputin arrived.

What exactly happened that day is unknown, and there are many myths surrounding Rasputin's death.

According to Yusupov, he offered Rasputin tea and cakes, which Rasputin ate with pleasure.

What Rasputin didn't know, of course, was that the food

and drink had been laced with cyanide, a deadly poison.

Rasputin reportedly ate the cakes but didn't seem affected by the poison.

He then asked for some wine, which was provided to him.

The wine too, had cyanide in it.

It got to 2.30 in the morning, but Rasputin was still there, seemingly completely fine.

Yusupov excused himself and went upstairs to consult his

co-conspirators, the other two men who were involved in the plan.

He returned downstairs, took a gun, and shot Rasputin in the chest.

Now, being shot directly in the chest did affect Rasputin, of course.

Yusupov thought he had killed Rasputin, so he returned upstairs to celebrate.

The men dressed someone in Rasputin's clothes and ordered him to drive to

Rasputin's apartment to make it seem like he had returned home that night.

But when they returned to dispose of Rasputin's body, to get rid of the

body, they found that he was still alive and he proceeded to fight Yusupuv.

A few more shots seemed to do the trick, they shot

Rasputin a few more times, and he collapsed, finally dead.

The men took his body, wrapped him up in a thick cloth and took him to a frozen river.

They found a hole in the ice and threw him in.

News travelled fast of Rasputin's death and on January the

1st, policemen found Rasputin's body under the river ice.

Although Yusupov told this elaborate story about Rasputin's death, Rasputin's daughter

Maria questioned Yusupov's account, saying that her father would never have eaten cakes.

In addition, autopsy reports showed no signs of Rasputin being poisoned, though it

was clear that Rasputin's body had undergone a lot of physical trauma after he died.

The cause of death was determined to be three gunshot wounds but there was

reportedly water found in his lungs, which indicates that Rasputin could have been

alive when he was thrown into the river, this is after having eaten enough cyanide

to kill a herd of elephants and being shot several times at point-blank range.

He might have been impossible to kill, but he was now certainly dead.

And in the months after Rasputin's murder, things went from bad to worse for the Romanovs.

People were starving, the transportation system was falling apart, and Russia had suffered

greatly in World War One, with an estimated 3 million Russians losing their lives.

As the majority of the country celebrated Rasputin's death, the Romanovs continued to mourn him.

This only made the public hate the Royal family even more.

To the Bolsheviks and their supporters, Rasputin had represented the corruption of the monarchy.

While they might have hated him personally, his murder was seen as a desperate

attempt by the elite to hold onto power at the expense of the working class.

Put another way, he was killed by some of the richest and most powerful men

in Russia in an attempt to save the Romanov dynasty and stop the revolution.

Although Rasputin might have been killed to maintain order

and to keep the monarchy intact, his murder did the opposite.

It only served to make people more angry and was yet another

reason to take action against the Romanovs, once and for all.

And in March of 1917, just over two months after Rasputin's death and after a series

of strikes and protests, Nicholas was forced to step down from his position as tsar.

Rasputin's body was dug up and burned by Soviet

soldiers so that his grave could not become a shrine.

He was a controversial and polarising figure both in life and death and his legacy continues today.

Although he is mostly remembered outside Russia as the man who wouldn't die, the mystery

of his life and death has inspired stories all over the world, and has added yet another

flavour, another vivid dimension, to the fascinating history of the Russian revolution.

It's interesting to wonder about the extent to which Rasputin influenced the fall of the Romanovs.

Certainly it's hard to make the argument that he did anything to help their

survival, but quite how much importance he had in their downfall is up for debate.

For some, he was merely an interesting character who had no real political power.

A strange, mad peasant who simply existed and caused some controversy in high society.

But for others, he was much more.

When the Russian revolution ended, the Provisional Government leader

Alexander Kerensky said, “Without Rasputin, there would have been no Lenin.”

Whatever you think of Grigori Rasputin the man, it is

undeniable that the legend has gone down in history.

Had his life gone another way, he might have remained a Russian peasant, farming his land,

rarely leaving his village, and probably having the occasional wild night in Siberia.

Instead, he set off for the capital, claimed to have cured the heir to the

throne, seduced the Tsar, Tsarina, and hundreds if not thousands of other

women in Russian high society, became the lover of many and the enemy of many

more, and perhaps, just perhaps, changed the course of Russian history forever.

As always, I would love to know what you thought of this episode.

It is a fascinating story and there are plenty of tales

about his life that we haven't had the time to include today.

So, I'd love to know, especially from the listeners in Russia, how

important do you think Rasputin was in the story of modern Russia?

How would Russian history have been different without him, if at all?

I would love to know.

You can head right into our community forum, which is at

community.leonardoenglish.com and get chatting away to other curious minds.

You've been listening to English Learning for Curious Minds, by Leonardo English.

I'm Alastair Budge, you stay safe, and I'll catch you in the next episode.

Episode 268; Grigori Rasputin: The Mad Monk [2] Folge 268; Grigori Rasputin: Der verrückte Mönch [2] Episodio 268; Grigori Rasputin: el monje loco [2] Épisode 268 ; Grigori Raspoutine : le moine fou [2] 第268話;グリゴリ・ラスプーチン:狂気の僧侶 [2] Odcinek 268; Grigorij Rasputin: Szalony mnich [2] Episódio 268; Grigori Rasputin: O Monge Louco [2] Эпизод 268; Григорий Распутин: безумный монах [2] Епізод 268; Григорій Распутін: Божевільний монах [2]. 第268集;格里戈里·拉斯普京:疯僧 [2] 第268集;格里戈里·拉斯普京:瘋僧 [2]

The clock was ticking. |||tic-tac

A group of conservatives formed a plan to kill Rasputin and save the monarchy from more scandal. |||muhafazakârlar||||||||||||| Un groupe de conservateurs a formé un plan pour tuer Raspoutine et sauver la monarchie de plus de scandale.

This group included one of the richest men in Russia, Prince

Feliks Yusupov, who was also the husband of the tsar's niece. ||||||||||sobrinha

The plan was to lure Rasputin to Yusupov's home, Moika Le plan était d'attirer Raspoutine à la maison de Yusupov, Moika

Palace, and on December 30th of 1916, Rasputin arrived.

What exactly happened that day is unknown, and there are many myths surrounding Rasputin's death.

According to Yusupov, he offered Rasputin tea and cakes, which Rasputin ate with pleasure.

What Rasputin didn't know, of course, was that the food

and drink had been laced with cyanide, a deadly poison. ||||||siyanür||| ||||adulterado com||cianeto|||

Rasputin reportedly ate the cakes but didn't seem affected by the poison.

He then asked for some wine, which was provided to him. ||||||||sağlandı||

The wine too, had cyanide in it.

It got to 2.30 in the morning, but Rasputin was still there, seemingly completely fine. |||||||||||aparentemente|| Il est arrivé à 2h30 du matin, mais Raspoutine était toujours là, apparemment tout à fait bien.

Yusupov excused himself and went upstairs to consult his |aff etti|||||||

co-conspirators, the other two men who were involved in the plan. |komplocular|||||||||| co-conspirateurs, les deux autres hommes impliqués dans le plan.

He returned downstairs, took a gun, and shot Rasputin in the chest. |||||||||||no peito

Now, being shot directly in the chest did affect Rasputin, of course.

Yusupov thought he had killed Rasputin, so he returned upstairs to celebrate.

The men dressed someone in Rasputin's clothes and ordered him to drive to Les hommes ont habillé quelqu'un avec les vêtements de Raspoutine et lui ont ordonné de conduire jusqu'à

Rasputin's apartment to make it seem like he had returned home that night.

But when they returned to dispose of Rasputin's body, to get rid of the |||||gömmek için|||||||| |||||||||||livrar-se de|| Mais quand ils sont revenus pour se débarrasser du corps de Raspoutine, pour se débarrasser du Но когда они вернулись, чтобы избавиться от тела Распутина, избавиться от

body, they found that he was still alive and he proceeded to fight Yusupuv. ||||||||||devam etti||| corps, ils ont constaté qu'il était toujours en vie et il a commencé à combattre Yusupuv. corpo, eles descobriram que ele ainda estava vivo e passou a lutar contra Yusupuv. тело, они обнаружили, что он еще жив, и он приступил к борьбе с Юсупувом.

A few more shots seemed to do the trick, they shot Quelques coups de plus semblaient faire l'affaire, ils ont tiré Mais alguns tiros pareciam fazer o truque, eles atiraram 又拍了几张照片,似乎起了作用,他们拍摄了

Rasputin a few more times, and he collapsed, finally dead.

The men took his body, wrapped him up in a thick cloth and took him to a frozen river. ||||||||||tela grossa|||||||| Les hommes ont pris son corps, l'ont enveloppé dans un tissu épais et l'ont emmené jusqu'à une rivière gelée.

They found a hole in the ice and threw him in. |||buraco||||||| Ils ont trouvé un trou dans la glace et l'ont jeté dedans.

News travelled fast of Rasputin's death and on January the La nouvelle de la mort de Raspoutine a circulé rapidement et, en janvier, le

1st, policemen found Rasputin's body under the river ice.

Although Yusupov told this elaborate story about Rasputin's death, Rasputin's daughter Bien que Yusupov ait raconté cette histoire élaborée sur la mort de Raspoutine, la fille de Raspoutine

Maria questioned Yusupov's account, saying that her father would never have eaten cakes. |||açıklaması||||||||| Maria a remis en question le récit de Yusupov, affirmant que son père n'aurait jamais mangé de gâteaux. Мария поставила под сомнение версию Юсупова, заявив, что ее отец никогда бы не стал есть пирожные.

In addition, autopsy reports showed no signs of Rasputin being poisoned, though it

was clear that Rasputin's body had undergone a lot of physical trauma after he died. ||||||sofrido|||||||| était clair que le corps de Raspoutine avait subi de nombreux traumatismes physiques après sa mort. Было ясно, что тело Распутина претерпело множество физических травм после его смерти.

The cause of death was determined to be three gunshot wounds but there was |||||||||disparos de arma|feridas||| La cause du décès a été déterminée comme étant trois blessures par balle, mais il y avait

reportedly water found in his lungs, which indicates that Rasputin could have been |||||pulmões||||||| aurait trouvé de l'eau dans ses poumons, ce qui indique que Raspoutine aurait pu être

alive when he was thrown into the river, this is after having eaten enough cyanide ||||||||||||||cianeto

to kill a herd of elephants and being shot several times at point-blank range. |||fil sürüsü|||||||||yakın mesafeden|| |||manada de|||||||||||à queima-roupa de tuer un troupeau d'éléphants et de se faire tirer dessus plusieurs fois à bout portant. 杀死一群大象并被近距离射击数次。

He might have been impossible to kill, but he was now certainly dead. Il était peut-être impossible à tuer, mais il était maintenant certainement mort.

And in the months after Rasputin's murder, things went from bad to worse for the Romanovs. Et dans les mois qui ont suivi le meurtre de Raspoutine, les choses sont allées de mal en pis pour les Romanov. И в течение нескольких месяцев после убийства Распутина дела Романовых шли все хуже и хуже.

People were starving, the transportation system was falling apart, and Russia had suffered ||||ulaşım sistemi|||||||| Les gens mouraient de faim, le système de transport s'effondrait et la Russie avait souffert

greatly in World War One, with an estimated 3 million Russians losing their lives. grandement pendant la Première Guerre mondiale, avec environ 3 millions de Russes qui ont perdu la vie.

As the majority of the country celebrated Rasputin's death, the Romanovs continued to mourn him. |||||||||||||yas tutmak| |||||||||||||lamentar| 当全国大部分地区庆祝拉斯普京的去世时,罗曼诺夫家族仍在继续哀悼他。

This only made the public hate the Royal family even more.

To the Bolsheviks and their supporters, Rasputin had represented the corruption of the monarchy. Для большевиков и их сторонников Распутин представлял коррумпированность монархии.

While they might have hated him personally, his murder was seen as a desperate Bien qu'ils l'aient peut-être détesté personnellement, son meurtre était considéré comme une tentative désespérée

attempt by the elite to hold onto power at the expense of the working class. ||||||manter-se sobre|||||||| tentative de l'élite de conserver le pouvoir aux dépens de la classe ouvrière. попытка элиты удержать власть за счет рабочего класса. 精英阶层试图以牺牲工人阶级为代价来维持权力。

Put another way, he was killed by some of the richest and most powerful men Autrement dit, il a été tué par certains des hommes les plus riches et les plus puissants

in Russia in an attempt to save the Romanov dynasty and stop the revolution.

Although Rasputin might have been killed to maintain order

and to keep the monarchy intact, his murder did the opposite.

It only served to make people more angry and was yet another

reason to take action against the Romanovs, once and for all.

And in March of 1917, just over two months after Rasputin's death and after a series

of strikes and protests, Nicholas was forced to step down from his position as tsar. стачек и протестов, Николай был вынужден уйти с царского поста.

Rasputin's body was dug up and burned by Soviet |||desenterrado||||| Le corps de Raspoutine a été déterré et brûlé par les Soviétiques O corpo de Rasputin foi desenterrado e queimado pelos soviéticos

soldiers so that his grave could not become a shrine. |||||pudesse|||| воинов, чтобы его могила не могла стать святыней.

He was a controversial and polarising figure both in life and death and his legacy continues today. |||||kutuplaştırıcı|||||||||||

Although he is mostly remembered outside Russia as the man who wouldn't die, the mystery Bien qu'on se souvienne surtout de lui en dehors de la Russie comme de l'homme qui ne mourrait pas, le mystère 尽管俄罗斯以外地区对他的印象主要是“不死之人”,但谜团

of his life and death has inspired stories all over the world, and has added yet another ||||||||||||||||bir başka

flavour, another vivid dimension, to the fascinating history of the Russian revolution. saveur, une autre dimension vivante, à l'histoire fascinante de la révolution russe. аромат, еще одно яркое измерение увлекательной истории русской революции.

It's interesting to wonder about the extent to which Rasputin influenced the fall of the Romanovs. é|||perguntar-se|||||||||||| Il est intéressant de se demander dans quelle mesure Raspoutine a influencé la chute des Romanov.

Certainly it's hard to make the argument that he did anything to help their 当然,很难说他做了什么来帮助他们

survival, but quite how much importance he had in their downfall is up for debate. 生存,但他对军队的垮台到底有多重要仍有待商榷。

For some, he was merely an interesting character who had no real political power.

A strange, mad peasant who simply existed and caused some controversy in high society. |||camponês excêntrico||||||||||

But for others, he was much more.

When the Russian revolution ended, the Provisional Government leader ||||||Geçici|| À la fin de la révolution russe, le chef du gouvernement provisoire

Alexander Kerensky said, “Without Rasputin, there would have been no Lenin.” ||||||||||Lenin

Whatever you think of Grigori Rasputin the man, it is

undeniable that the legend has gone down in history. inkar edilemez|||||||| inegável que a lenda entrou para a história. Бесспорно, легенда вошла в историю.

Had his life gone another way, he might have remained a Russian peasant, farming his land,

rarely leaving his village, and probably having the occasional wild night in Siberia. quittant rarement son village et ayant probablement des nuits sauvages occasionnelles en Sibérie. редко покидал свою деревню и, вероятно, время от времени проводил дикие ночи в Сибири. 他很少离开村庄,偶尔可能会在西伯利亚度过狂野的夜晚。

Instead, he set off for the capital, claimed to have cured the heir to the 相反,他动身前往首都,声称已经治愈了

throne, seduced the Tsar, Tsarina, and hundreds if not thousands of other

women in Russian high society, became the lover of many and the enemy of many

more, and perhaps, just perhaps, changed the course of Russian history forever.

As always, I would love to know what you thought of this episode. Comme toujours, j'aimerais savoir ce que vous avez pensé de cet épisode.

It is a fascinating story and there are plenty of tales

about his life that we haven't had the time to include today.

So, I'd love to know, especially from the listeners in Russia, how

important do you think Rasputin was in the story of modern Russia?

How would Russian history have been different without him, if at all?

I would love to know.

You can head right into our community forum, which is at Vous pouvez vous diriger directement vers notre forum communautaire, qui est à

community.leonardoenglish.com and get chatting away to other curious minds.

You've been listening to English Learning for Curious Minds, by Leonardo English.

I'm Alastair Budge, you stay safe, and I'll catch you in the next episode.