Larry Paradine
29-07-2014, 12:29
Russian Civil War hero Chapaev was a local boy, so Cheboksary honours his memory in several public places, including a park, a museum and an equestrian statue. The latter, erected in 1960, has occasionally been criticised by pedants who point out that Chapaev appears to have two left feet and that the horse would probably seriously injure itself by rearing in the manner sculpted, but only now has it come under threat of drastic alteration. In an article headlined "Чебоксарцы предлагают спилить доствоинство коня Чапаева" (which I'm unable to post here as an attachment as it's too long), our local Про Город reports that a mother of three has complained about the outsize proportions of the horse's unmentionables and submitted a complaint, which has been backed by the local administrator of the Liberal-Democratic Party, calling for signatures on a petition to remove the offending protuberances from the statue. Our Mrs. Grundy (aka Tatiana Semenova) is shocked that such a display of lewdness is permitted in a park where children play. I assume that the lady went equipped with a telescope, as it would be rather difficult to clearly make out the part of the equine anatomy in question without one (see attached photos), and the petition is not gathering much support, but is this just the thin edge of the wedge that will become a massive public campaign - especially if it receives the blessing of the Orthodox Church - to restore standards of decency in public life? In Victorian England there was a society formed with the goal of pressuring the government into passing legislation that would not only have compelled sculptors to dress statues but also have ordered farmers and pet owners to cover up the lower extremities and other unmentionable parts of their animals' anatomies. Perhaps that will be the next step in the ongoing legislative campaign to protect the morals and innocence of Russian children?