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Vehicle Dynamics Stability and Control

Second Edition Dekker Mechanical


Engineering Dean Karnopp
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SECOND EDITION

VEHICLE
DYNAMICS,
STABILITY,
AND CONTROL
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
A Series of Textbooks and Reference Books

Founding Editor
L. L. Faulkner
Columbus Division, Battelle Memorial Institute
and Department of Mechanical Engineering
The Ohio State University
Columbus, Ohio

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SECOND EDITION

VEHICLE
DYNAMICS,
STABILITY,
AND CONTROL
DEAN KARNOPP

Boca Raton London New York

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Contents

Preface.......................................................................................................................ix
Author.................................................................................................................... xiii

1. Introduction: Elementary Vehicles.............................................................. 1


1.1 Tapered Wheelset on Rails...................................................................4
1.2 The Dynamics of a Shopping Cart.................................................... 10
1.2.1 Inertial Coordinate System.................................................... 11
1.2.2 Body-Fixed Coordinate System............................................. 16

2. Rigid Body Motion........................................................................................ 21


2.1 Inertial Frame Description.................................................................22
2.2 Body-Fixed Coordinate Frame Description..................................... 23
2.2.1 Basic Dynamic Principles...................................................... 27
2.2.2 General Kinematic Considerations...................................... 27
2.3 Spin Stabilization of Satellites............................................................30
2.4 Bond Graphs for Rigid Body Dynamics...........................................34

3. Stability of Motion: Concepts and Analysis............................................ 41


3.1 Static and Dynamic Stability..............................................................42
3.2 Eigenvalue Calculations and the Routh Criterion........................... 46
3.2.1 Mathematical Forms for Vehicle Dynamic Equations....... 47
3.2.2 Computing Eigenvalues......................................................... 52
3.2.3 Routh’s Stability Criterion.....................................................54

4. Pneumatic Tire Force Generation............................................................... 59


4.1 Tire–Road Interaction.......................................................................... 59
4.2 Lateral Forces........................................................................................ 60
4.2.1 Effect of Normal Force........................................................... 62
4.3 Longitudinal Forces............................................................................. 66
4.4 Combined Lateral and Longitudinal Forces.................................... 68

5. Stability of Trailers....................................................................................... 73
5.1 Single-Degree-of-Freedom Model..................................................... 74
5.1.1 Use of Lagrange Equations.................................................... 78
5.1.2 Analysis of the Equation of Motion..................................... 81
5.2 Two-Degree-of-Freedom Model......................................................... 82
5.2.1 Calculation of the Slip Angle................................................83
5.2.2 Formulation Using Lagrange Equations.............................84
5.2.3 Analysis of the Equations of Motion.................................... 86
5.3 A Third-Order Model.......................................................................... 88

v
vi Contents

5.3.1 A Simple Stability Criterion.................................................. 89


5.4 A Model Including Rotary Damping................................................ 90
5.4.1 A Critical Speed...................................................................... 92

6. Automobiles.................................................................................................... 95
6.1 Stability and Dynamics of an Elementary Automobile Model..... 95
6.1.1 Stability Analysis Using Inertial Coordinates.................... 96
6.1.2 Stability, Critical Speed, Understeer, and Oversteer........ 102
6.1.3 Body-Fixed Coordinate Formulation................................. 103
6.2 Transfer Functions for Front- and Rear-Wheel Steering.............. 106
6.3 Yaw Rate and Lateral Acceleration Gains...................................... 111
6.3.1 The Special Case of the Neutral Steer Vehicle.................. 112
6.4 Steady Cornering............................................................................... 114
6.4.1 Description of Steady Turns................................................ 115
6.4.2 Significance of the Understeer Coefficient........................ 118
6.5 Acceleration and Yaw Rate Gains.................................................... 121
6.6 Dynamic Stability in a Steady Turn................................................ 127
6.6.1 Analysis of the Basic Motion............................................... 128
6.6.2 Analysis of the Perturbed Motion...................................... 129
6.6.3 Relating Stability to a Change in Curvature..................... 132
6.7 Limit Cornering.................................................................................. 135
6.7.1 Steady Cornering with Linear Tire Models...................... 137
6.7.2 Steady Cornering with Nonlinear Tire Models................ 138

7. Two-Wheeled and Tilting Vehicles......................................................... 141


7.1 Steering Control of Banking Vehicles............................................. 142
7.1.1 Development of the Mathematical Model......................... 143
7.1.2 Derivation of the Dynamic Equations............................... 146
7.2 Steering Control of Lean Angle....................................................... 149
7.2.1 Front-Wheel Steering............................................................ 150
7.2.2 Countersteering or Reverse Action.................................... 152
7.2.3 Rear-Wheel Steering............................................................. 155

8. Stability of Casters...................................................................................... 159


8.1 A Vertical Axis Caster....................................................................... 160
8.2 An Inclined Axis Caster.................................................................... 162
8.3 A Vertical Axis Caster with Pivot Flexibility................................. 166
8.3.1 Introduction of a Damping Moment.................................. 167
8.4 A Vertical Axis Caster with Pivot Flexibility and a Finite
Cornering Coefficient........................................................................ 168
8.5 A Caster with Dynamic Side Force Generation............................. 170
8.5.1 The Flexible Sidewall Interpretation of Dynamic
Force Generation................................................................... 172
8.5.2 Stability Analysis with Dynamic Force Generation........ 174
Contents vii

9. Aerodynamics and the Stability of Aircraft.......................................... 177


9.1 A Little Airfoil Theory...................................................................... 178
9.2 Derivation of the Static Longitudinal Stability Criterion for
Aircraft................................................................................................ 184
9.2.1 Parameter Estimation........................................................... 192
9.3 The Phugoid Mode............................................................................. 194
9.4 Dynamic Stability Considerations: Comparison of Wheels
and Wings........................................................................................... 197
9.4.1 An Elementary Dynamic Stability Analysis of an
Airplane................................................................................. 201
9.5 The Effect of Elevator Position on Trim Conditions..................... 204

10. Rail Vehicle Dynamics............................................................................... 207


10.1 Introduction........................................................................................ 207
10.2 Modeling a Wheelset......................................................................... 209
10.3 Wheel–Rail Interaction...................................................................... 212
10.4 Creepage Equations........................................................................... 213
10.5 The Equations of Motion................................................................... 215
10.6 The Characteristic Equation............................................................. 216
10.7 Stability Analysis and Critical Speed.............................................. 217

11. Vehicle Dynamics Control......................................................................... 221


11.1 Stability and Control.........................................................................222
11.2 From ABS to VDC and TVD............................................................. 224
11.2.1 Model Reference Control..................................................... 228
11.3 Active Steering Systems.................................................................... 231
11.3.1 Stability Augmentation Using Front-, Rear-, or
All-Wheel Steering............................................................... 233
11.3.2 Feedback Model Following Active Steering Control....... 237
11.3.3 Sliding Mode Control........................................................... 238
11.3.4 Active Steering Applied to the Bicycle Model of an
Automobile............................................................................ 242
11.3.5 Active Steering Yaw Rate Controller.................................. 243
11.4 Limitations of Active Vehicle Dynamics Control.......................... 249
Appendix: Bond Graphs for Vehicle Dynamics........................................... 251
A.1 A Bond Graph for the Two-Degree-of-Freedom Trailer............... 252
A.2 A Bond Graph for a Simple Car Model........................................... 256
A.3 A Bond Graph for a Simple Airplane Model................................. 257
Problems............................................................................................................... 261
Chapter 1........................................................................................................ 261
Chapter 2........................................................................................................ 264
Chapter 3........................................................................................................ 266
Chapter 4........................................................................................................ 269
Chapter 5........................................................................................................ 271
viii Contents

Chapter 6........................................................................................................ 279


Chapter 7........................................................................................................ 285
Chapter 8........................................................................................................ 287
Chapter 9........................................................................................................ 291
Chapter 10...................................................................................................... 294
Chapter 11...................................................................................................... 296
References............................................................................................................ 301
Preface

This book is the second edition of a book originally titled Vehicle Stability. The
new title, Vehicle Dynamics, Stability, and Control, better describes this revised
and extended version.
This book is the result of two activities that have given the author a great
deal of pleasure and satisfaction over a period of more than forty years. The
first was the initiation and teaching of a course for seniors and first-year
graduate students in mechanical and aerospace engineering at the University
of California, Davis. The course is intended to illustrate the application of
techniques the students had learned in courses dealing with such topics as
kinematics, rigid body dynamics, system dynamics, automatic control, sta-
bility theory, and aerodynamics to the study of the dynamic behavior of a
number of vehicle types. In addition, specialized topics dealing specifically
with vehicle dynamics such as the force generation by pneumatic tires, rail-
way wheels and wings are also presented.
The second activity was a short course entitled “Vehicle Dynamics and
Active Control,” given by the author and his colleague, Professor Donald
Margolis, numerous times in the United States and in several European
countries. This short professional course was intended primarily for engi-
neers in the automotive industry.
Although the short course for engineering professionals contained much
of the material found in the academic course and in the present book, it was
specialized in that it dealt only with automotive topics. The unique feature of
the present book lies in its treatment of the dynamics and stability aspects of
a variety of vehicle types. Anyone who has experience with vehicles knows
that stability (or instability) is one of the most intriguing and mysterious
aspects of vehicle dynamics. Why does a motorcycle sometimes exhibit a
wobble of the front wheel when ridden “no hands” or a dangerous weav-
ing motion at high speed? Why would a trailer suddenly begin to oscillate
over several traffic lanes just because its load distribution is different from
the usual? Why does a locomotive begin “hunting” back and forth on the
tracks when traveling a high speed? Why is an airplane hard to fly when the
passenger and luggage load is too far to the rear? Could it be that a car or
truck could behave in an unstable way when driven above a critical speed?
In addition, there are control questions such as “How can humans control an
inherently unstable vehicle such as a bicycle?”
Many of these questions are answered in the book using the analysis
of linear vehicle dynamic models. This allows the similarities and critical
differences in the stability properties of different vehicle types to be par-
ticularly easily appreciated. Although analysis based on linearized mathe­
matical models cannot answer all questions, general rigid body dynamics

ix
x Preface

and nonlinear relations relating to force generation are discussed for several
cases. Furthermore, many of the nonlinear aspects of vehicle dynamics are
discussed, albeit often in a more quantitative manner.
It is possible, of course, to extend the models beyond the range of small per-
turbation inherent in the analysis of stability. Through the use of computer
simulation, for example, one can discover the behavior of unstable vehicles
when the perturbation variables grow to an extent that the linearized equa-
tions are no longer valid.
An aspect of the professional course that was of particular interest to
working engineers was the discussion of active means of influencing the
dynamics of automobiles. It is now fairly common to find active or semi­
active suspension systems, active steering systems, electronically controlled
braking systems, torque vectoring drive systems, and the like that actively
control the dynamics of automotive vehicles. Many of these control systems
follow the lead of similar systems first applied in aircraft. Throughout the
book, whenever it is appropriate, the idea that active means might be used
to improve the dynamics of a vehicle is presented. In particular, Chapter 11
discusses some of the active means used to improve the dynamics of vehicles
such as cars and airplanes.
Since all the studies of vehicle dynamics begin with the formulation of
mathematical models, there is a great deal of emphasis in this book on the
use of methods for formulating equations of motion. Chapter 2 deals with
the description of rigid body motion. In basic dynamics textbooks, the use of
a body-fixed coordinate system that proves to be very useful to describe the
dynamics of many vehicle types is typically not discussed at all. Chapter 2
describes the fundamental principles of mechanics for rigid bodies as well
as the general equations when expressed in a body-fixed coordinate system.
In other chapters, the more conventional derivations of the equations of
motion using Newton’s laws directly or Lagrange equations with inertial
coordinate systems are illustrated by a series of examples of increasing levels
of complexity. This gives the reader the opportunity to compare several ways
to formulate equations of motion for a vehicle.
For those with some familiarity with bond graph methods for system
dynamics, Chapter 2 contains a section that shows how rigid body dynamics
using a body-fixed coordinate frame can be represented in a graphical form
using bond graphs. The Appendix gives complete bond graph representa-
tions for an automobile model used in Chapter 6 and for a simplified aircraft
model used in Chapter 9. A number of bond graph processing programs
are available. This opens up the possibility of using computer automated
equation formulation and simulation for nonlinear versions of the linearized
models used for stability analysis.
The academic course has proved to be very popular over the years for
several reasons. First of all, many people are inherently interested in the
dynamics of vehicles such as cars, bicycles, motorcycles, airplanes, and
trains. Second, the idea that vehicles can exhibit unstable and dangerous
Preface xi

behavior for no obvious reason is in itself fascinating. These instabilities are


particularly obvious in racing situations or in speed record attempts, but in
everyday life it is common to see trailers swaying back and forth or to see
cars slewing around on icy roads and to wonder why this happens. Third,
for those with some background in applied mathematics, it is always satisfy-
ing to see that relatively simple mathematical models can often illuminate
dynamic behavior that would otherwise be baffling.
The book does not attempt to be a practical guide to the design or modi-
fication of vehicles. The reader will have an appreciation of how an aircraft
designer goes about designing a statically stable aircraft but will not find
here a complete discussion of the practical knowledge needed to become an
expert. The reader will gain an appreciation of the automotive terms under-
steer, oversteer, and critical speeds, for example, but there are no rules of
thumb given for modifying an autocross racer. The References do, however,
include books and papers that will prove helpful in building up a practical
knowledge base relating to a particular vehicle dynamics problem.
For those interested in using the book as a text, it is highly recommended
that experiments and demonstrations be used in parallel with the classroom
lectures. The University of California, Davis is fortunate to be located near
the California Highway Patrol Academy, and their driving instructors have
been generous in giving demonstrations of automobile dynamics on their
high-speed track and their skid pans. The students are always impressed
that the instructors use the same words to describe the handling of patrol
cars that the engineers use such as “understeer” and “oversteer” but without
using the formal definitions that engineers prefer. Also, a trip to a local dirt
track provides a demonstration of the racers’ terms “tight” and “loose” as
well as some spectacular demonstrations of unstable dynamic behavior.
Furthermore, our university has its own airport. This has permitted the
students to experience aircraft dynamics personally as well as analytically
in the discussions of Chapter 9. The relation between stability and control is
much more obvious as a passenger in a small airplane than it is in commer-
cial aircraft. A good pilot can easily demonstrate several oscillatory modes
of motion (these are all stable for production small airplanes except possi-
bly for the low-frequency phugoid mode) and, if the passengers are willing,
can show the beginnings of some divergent modes of motion for extreme
attitudes.
In addition, it is possible to design laboratory experiments to illustrate
many of the analyses in the book. As examples, we have designed a dem-
onstration of trailer instability using a moving belt and a stationary model
trailer as well as a small trailer attached to a three-wheeled bicycle. These
models show that changes in center of mass location and moment of inertia
do indeed influence stability just as the theory in Chapter 5 predicts. Model
gliders have been designed to illustrate static stability and instability as dis-
cussed in Chapter 9. Even a rear-steering bicycle was fabricated to illustrate
the control difficulties described in Chapter 7.
xii Preface

A number of exercises are included that may be assigned if the book is


used as a text. (A solutions manual for instructors is available.) Some of these
problems are included to help students appreciate assumptions behind deri-
vations given in the book. Other problems extend the analyses of the cor-
responding chapter to new situations or relate topics in one chapter to other
chapters. Still other problems are of a much more extensive nature and can
form the basis of small projects. They are intended to illustrate how mathe­
matical models of varying degrees of complexity can be used to suggest
design rules for improving the dynamics, stability, and control of vehicles.
The author hopes that the readers of this book will be as fascinated with
vehicle dynamics, stability, and control as he is and will be inspired to learn
even more about these topics.

Dean Karnopp
Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
University of California
Davis, California
Author

Dean Karnopp is professor emeritus of mechanical and aerospace engi­neering


at the University of California, Davis. The author of more than 178 profes-
sional publications including multiple editions of six textbooks, and he has
worked as a consultant in various industries including extensive stays at the
Daimler-Benz Corporation and the Robert Bosch Company. He is a fellow of
the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and a life honorary member
of the Franklin Institute and received the Senior U.S. Scientist award from the
Alexander von Humbolt Stiftung of the German government. He received
his B.S., M.S. (1957), and Ph.D. (1961) degrees in mechanical engineering from
the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, where he also served
as a faculty member.

xiii
1
Introduction: Elementary Vehicles

Vehicles such as cars, trains, ships, and airplanes are intended to move peo-
ple and goods from place to place in an efficient and safe manner. This book
deals with certain aspects of the motion of vehicles usually described using
the terms “dynamics, stability, and control.” Although most people have a
good intuitive idea what these terms mean, this book will deal with math-
ematical models of vehicles and with more precise and technical meaning of
the terms. As long as the mathematical models reasonably represent the real
vehicles, the results of analysis of the models can yield insight into the actual
problems that vehicles sometimes exhibit, and in the best case, can suggest
ways to cure vehicle problems by modification of the physical aspects of the
vehicle or the introduction of automatic control techniques.
All vehicles represent interesting and often complex dynamic systems that
require careful analysis and design to make sure that they behave properly.
In particular, the stability aspect of vehicle motion has to do with assuring
that the vehicle does not depart spontaneously from a desired path. It is pos-
sible for an automobile to start to spin out at high speed or a trailer to begin
to oscillate back and forth in ever-wider swings seemingly without provoca-
tion. Most of this book deals with how the physical parameters of a vehicle
influence its dynamic characteristics in general and its stability properties in
particular.
The control aspect of vehicle motion has to do with the ability of a human
operator or an automatic control system to guide the vehicle along a desired
trajectory. In the case of a human operator, this means that the dynamic prop-
erties of such vehicles should be tailored to allow humans to control them
with reasonable ease and precision. A car or an airplane that requires a great
deal of attention to keep it from deviating from a desired path would prob-
ably not be considered satisfactory. Modern studies of the Wright brother’s
1903 Flyer indicate that, while the brothers learned to control the airplane, it
apparently was inherently so unstable that modern pilots are reluctant to fly
an exact replica. The Wright brothers, of course, did not have the benefit of
the understanding of aircraft stability that aeronautical engineers now have.
Modern light planes can now be designed to be stable enough that flying
them is not the daunting task that it was for the Wrights.
For vehicles using electronic control systems, the dynamic properties of
the vehicle must be considered in the design of the controller to assure that
the controlled vehicles are stable and have desirable dynamics. Increasingly,
human operators exercise supervisory control of vehicles with automatic

1
2 Vehicle Dynamics, Stability, and Control

control systems. In some cases, the control system must stabilize an inher-
ently unstable vehicle so that it is not difficult for the human operator to
control its trajectory. This is the case for some modern fighter aircraft. In
other cases, the active control system simply aids the human operator in con-
trolling the vehicle. Aircraft autopilots, fly-by-wire systems, antilock braking
systems, and electronic stability enhancement systems for automobiles are
all examples of systems that modify the stability properties of vehicles with
active means to increase the ease with which they can be controlled. Active
stability enhancement techniques will be discussed in Chapter 11 after the
dynamic properties of several types of vehicles have been analyzed.
In some cases, vehicle motion is neither actively controlled by a human
operator nor by an automatic control system but yet the vehicle may exhibit
very undesirable dynamic behavior under certain conditions. A trailer being
pulled by a car, for example, should obviously follow the path of the car in
a stable fashion. As we will see in Chapter 5, a trailer that is not properly
designed or loaded may however exhibit growing oscillations at high speeds,
which could lead to a serious accident. Trains that use tapered wheelsets are
intended to self-center on the tracks without any active control, but above
a critical speed, an increasing oscillatory motion called hunt can develop
that may lead to derailment in extreme cases. For many vehicles, this type
of unstable behavior may suddenly appear as a critical speed is exceeded.
This type of unstable behavior is particularly insidious since the vehicle
will appear to act in a perfectly normal manner until the first time the criti-
cal speed is exceeded, at which time the unstable motion can have serious
consequences.
This book will concentrate on the mathematical description of the dynam-
ics of vehicles. An important topic that can be treated with some general-
ity involves the stability of the motion of vehicles. Other aspects of vehicle
dynamics to be discussed fall into the more general category of “vehicle
handling” or “vehicle controllability” and are of particular importance
­
under extreme conditions associated with emergency maneuvers.
Obviously, vehicle stability is of interest to anyone involved in the design
or use of vehicles, but the topic of stability is of a more general interest. Since
the dynamic behavior of vehicles such as cars, trailers, and airplanes is to
some extent familiar to almost everybody, these systems can be used to
introduce a number of concepts in system dynamics, stability, and control.
To many people, these concepts seem abstract and difficult to understand
when presented as topics in applied mathematics without some familiar
physical examples. Everyday experience with a variety of vehicles can pro-
vide examples of these otherwise abstract mathematical concepts.
Engineers involved in the design and construction of vehicles typically
use mathematical models of vehicles in order to understand the fundamen-
tal dynamic problems of real vehicles and to devise means for controlling
vehicle motion. Unfortunately, it can be a formidable task to find accurate
mathematical descriptions of the dynamics of a wide variety of vehicles. Not
Introduction: Elementary Vehicles 3

only do the descriptions involve nonlinear differential equations that seem


to have little similarity from vehicle type to vehicle type, but in particular,
the characterization of the force-producing elements can be quite disparate.
One can easily imagine that rubber tires, steel wheels, boat hulls, or airplane
wings act in quite different ways to influence the motions of vehicles operat-
ing on land, on water, or in the air.
On the other hand, all vehicles have some aspects in common. They are all
usefully described for many purposes as essentially rigid bodies acted upon
by forces that control their motion. Some of the forces are under control of
a human operator, some may be under active control of an automatic con-
trol system, but all are influenced by the very nature of the force-generating
mechanisms inherent to the particular vehicle type. This means that not
very many people claim to be experts in the dynamics of a large number of
types of vehicles.
When describing the stability of vehicle motion, however, the treatment of
the various types of force-generating elements exhibits a great deal of simi-
larity. In stability analysis, it is often sufficient to consider small deviations
from a steady state of motion. The basic idea is that a stable vehicle will tend
to return to the steady motion if it has been disturbed while an unstable
vehicle will deviate further from the steady state after a disturbance. The
mathematical description of the vehicle dynamics for stability analysis typi-
cally uses a linearized differential equation form based on the nonlinear dif-
ferential equations that generally apply. The linearized equations show more
similarity among vehicle types than the more accurate nonlinear equations.
Thus, a focus on stability allows one to appreciate that there are interesting
similarities and differences among the dynamic properties of a variety of
vehicle types without being confronted with the complexities of nonlinear
differential equation models.
In this chapter, stability analyses will be performed for two extremely
simplified vehicle models to illustrate the approach. In later chapters more
realistic vehicle models will be introduced and it will become clear that
despite some analogous effects among vehicle types, ultimately the differ-
ences among the force-generating mechanisms for various vehicle types
determine their behavior particularly under more extreme conditions than
are considered in stability analyses. Complicated mathematical models are
routinely used in the design of many vehicle types and are studied using
computer simulation. Such models often contain so many parameters that
it is not easy to see how to solve dynamic problems that may arise. In this
book we will restrict the discussion mainly to relative simple but insightful
models that are particularly good at illuminating stability problems.
In this introductory chapter, the two examples that will be analyzed
require essentially no discussion of force-generating elements such as tires
or wings. They do, however, introduce the basic ideas of vehicle stability
analysis. The first example is actually kinematic rather than dynamic in the
usual sense, since Newton’s laws are not needed. The second example is
4 Vehicle Dynamics, Stability, and Control

truly dynamic but kinematic constraints take the place of force-generating


elements. Subsequent Chapters 2, 3, and 4 provide a basis for the more com-
plete dynamic analyses to follow in Chapters 5–11.

1.1 Tapered Wheelset on Rails


Although the ancient invention of the wheel was a great step forward for the
transportation of heavy loads, when soft or rough ground was to be covered,
wheels still required significant thrust to move under load. The idea of a
railway was to provide a hard, smooth surface on which the wheels could
roll and thus to reduce the effort required to move a load.
The first rail vehicles were used to transport ore out of mines. Cylindrical
wheels with flanges on the inside to keep the wheels from rolling off the rails
were used. To the casual observer, these early wheelsets resemble closely
those used today. In fact, modern wheelsets differ in an important way from
those earliest versions.
Using cylindrical wheels, which seemed logical at the time, it was found
that the flanges on the wheels were often rubbing in contact with the sides of
the rails. This not only increased the resistance of the wheels to rolling, but
more importantly, also caused the flanges to wear quite rapidly. Eventually
it was discovered that if slightly tapered rather than cylindrical wheels were
used, the wheelsets would automatically tend to self-center and the flanges
would hardly wear at all since they rarely touched the sides of the rails. Since
this time almost all rail cars use tapered wheels.
The actual analysis of the stability of high-speed trains is quite compli-
cated since multiple wheels, trucks on which the wheels are mounted, and
the car bodies are involved. Also, somewhat surprisingly, steel wheels roll-
ing on steel rails at high speeds do not simply roll as rigid bodies without
slipping, as one might imagine. There are lateral and longitudinal “creep-
ing” motions between the wheels and the rails that make the stability of the
entire vehicle dependent upon the speed. Above a so-called critical speed a
railcar will begin to “hunt” back and forth between the rails. At high enough
speeds, the flanges will contact the rails and in the extreme case, the wheels
may derail. The dynamic analysis of rail vehicles is discussed in more detail
in Chapter 10.
The following analysis will be as simple as possible. Only a single wheel-
set is involved and the analysis is not even dynamic but rather kinematic.
The two wheels will be assumed to roll without slip, which is a reasonable
assumption at low speeds. The point of the exercise is to show that at very low
speeds when the accelerations and hence the forces are very low, a wheelset
with tapered wheels will tend to steer itself automatically towards the center
of the rails. If the taper were to be in the opposite sense, the wheelset would
Introduction: Elementary Vehicles 5

be unstable and tent to veer toward one side of the rails or the other until the
flanges would contact the rails. This example will serve to show how a small
perturbation from a steady motion leads to linearized equations of motion
that can be analyzed for their stability properties.
Figure 1.1 shows the wheelset in two conditions. At the left in Figure 1.1,
the wheelset is in a centered position rolling at a constant forward speed on
straight rails. The wheelset consists of two wheels rigidly attached to a com-
mon axle so both wheels rotate about their common axle at the same rate.
The wheels are assumed to have point contact with the two straight lines
that represent the rails. In the centered position shown at the left, the radius
of each wheel at the contact point on the rails is the same, r0.
The second part of the figure to the right shows the wheelset in a slightly
perturbed position. In this part of the figure, the wheelset has moved off
its centered position and its axle has assumed a slight angle with respect to
a line perpendicular to the rails. The forward speed is assumed to remain
constant.
In all of the examples to follow, we will distinguish between parameters,
which are constants in the analysis, and variables, which change over time
and are used to describe the motion of the system. In this case, the param-
eters are l, the separation of the rails, Ψ, the taper angle, r0, the rolling radius
when the wheelset is centered, and Ω, the angular velocity of the wheelset
about its axle, which will be assumed to be constant.
The main variables for this problem are y, the deviation of the center of the
wheelset from the center of the rails and θ, the angle between the wheelset
axis and a line perpendicular to the rails. Other variables that may be of
interest include x, the distance the wheelset has moved down the track, and
ϕ, the angle around the axle that the wheelset has turned when it has rolled
a distance x. Still other variables such as the velocities of the upper and lower
wheels in the sketch of Figure 1.1, VU and VL, will be eliminated in the final
equations describing the system.
Generally for a vehicle stability analysis, a possible steady motion will be
defined and then small deviations from this steady motion will be assumed.
In this book, this steady motion will often be called the basic motion. The
essence of a stability analysis is to determine whether the deviations from
the steady basic motion will tend to increase or decrease in time. If the devia-
tions increase in time, the system is called unstable. If the deviations tend to
decrease and the vehicle system returns to the basic motion, the system is
called stable. These concepts will be made more precise later.
In this example, the basic motion occurs when the wheelset is perfectly
dy
centered with θ ≅ , and y both vanishing. Since Ω is assumed to be con-
dx
stant, the velocities x = r0 Ω = VU = VL also are constant for the basic motion.
The deviated motion is called the perturbed motion and is characterized by
the assumption that the deviation variables are small in some sense. In the
present case, it is assumed that the variable y is small with respect to l and
6 Vehicle Dynamics, Stability, and Control

θ dy θ
Ψ dx
VU

Radius at contact ≈ r0 + Ψy
dy
slope = =θ
dx

l
. y
Ω=φ

x
VL
2r0
Radius at contact ≈ r0 – Ψy

FIGURE 1.1
A tapered wheelset.

that the angle θ is also small. (Remember that angles are dimensionless, and
small in this case means small with respect to 2π radians. We will encounter
angles that must be considered small frequently in the subsequent chapters.
Small angle approximations for trigonometric functions will then be used.)
For an unstable system, the small, perturbed variables such as y and θ will
grow spontaneously in time. For a stable system, the perturbed variables
decrease in time and the motion approaches the basic motion. In this exam-
ple, y and θ will tend to return toward zero if the wheelset is stable.
For the perturbed motion, with y and θ small but not zero, the upper and
lower wheel velocities are slightly different because the rolling radii of the
two wheels are no longer the same. The taper angle is assumed to be small
so the change in radius is proportional to the offset distance and the taper
angle. The magnitude of the change is thus approximately Ψy, with the upper
radius increasing and the lower radius decreasing (see Figure 1.1.) (Can you
see that if the angle θ is very small, it has only a negligible effect on the radii?)
The rotational rate Ω of the wheelset is assumed to be constant even when
the wheelset is not perfectly centered. The forward speeds of the upper and
lower wheels are then

VU = (r0 + Ψy)Ω, (1.1)

VL = (r0 − Ψy)Ω. (1.2)

Note that when y = 0, the two wheel speeds are equal and have the value
r0 Ω, which is the forward speed of the wheelset.
Introduction: Elementary Vehicles 7

In fact, the forward velocity of the center point of the wheelset, which was
also r0 Ω for the basic motion, does not change appreciably for the perturbed
motion. Simple kinematic considerations show that the speed of the center
point of the wheelset is essentially the average of the motion of the two ends
of the axle.

(
x = VU + VL ) 2 = r0 Ω , (1.3)

when Equations 1.1 and 1.2 are used. Now one can compute the rate of change
of the angle θ, which has to do with the difference between the velocities of the
two wheels. This is again a matter of simple kinematics. Using Equations 1.1
and 1.2 again, we find that

(
θ = VL − VU ) l = −2ΨyΩ/l. (1.4)

dy
The rate of change of y can also be found using the idea that θ ≅ , and
using Equation 1.3, dx

dy dy dx dy
dt
≡ y ≅ =
dx dt dx
x ≅ θ r0Ω . ( ) (1.5)

By differentiating Equation 1.5 with respect to time and substituting θ


from Equation 1.4, a single second-order equation for y(t) results.

 r Ω2 2 Ψ 
y +  0
  y = 0. (1.6)
l
Alternatively, Equations 1.4 and 1.5 can also be expressed in state space
form (Ogata 1970).

 θ   0 −2 ΨΩ/l  θ 
 =  . (1.7)
 y   r0 Ω 0   y 

In either form, Equation 1.6 or 1.7, these linear differential equations are
easily solved. (The solution and stability analysis of linear equations will be
discussed in some detail in Chapter 3.)
In this section, we will simply note the analogy of Equation 1.6 to the
familiar equation of motion for a mass-spring vibratory system,

mx + kx = 0 or x + ( k/m)x = 0 , (1.8)


8 Vehicle Dynamics, Stability, and Control

in which x is the position of the mass, k is a spring constant, and m is the


mass.
Common experience with a mass attached to a normal spring shows that
after a disturbance, the spring pulls the mass back towards the equilibrium
position, x = 0. Thereafter the mass oscillates back and forth, and if there
is any friction at all, the mass will eventually come closer and closer to the
equilibrium position. This is almost obviously a stable situation.
The general solution of Equation 1.8, for the position x(t), assuming both m
and k are positive parameters, is x = A sin(ωnt + const.) and ω n = k/m is the
undamped natural frequency. Note that in Equation 1.8, no term representing
friction is present, so the oscillation persists indefinitely.
This analogy between Equations 1.6 and 1.8 makes clear that the tapered
wheelset (with the taper sense positive as shown in Figure 1.1) does tend to
steer itself toward the center when disturbed and will follow a sinusoidal
path down the track after being disturbed. Note that the solution of Equation
1.8 is assumed to be correct if (k/m) is positive. The analogy holds because
the corresponding term (r0 Ω22Ψ/l) in Equation 1.6 is also positive for the
taper situation shown in Figure 1.1.
It is easy and instructive to build a demonstration device that will show
the self-centering properties of a wheelset using, for example, wooden dow-
els for the rails and paper cups taped together to make the wheelset with
tapered wheels.
If the taper angle, Ψ, were to be negative, the wheelset equation would be
analogous to a mass-spring system but with a spring with a negative spring
constant rather than a positive one. A spring with a negative spring constant
would create a force tending to push the mass away from the equilibrium
position x = 0 rather than tending to pull it back as a normal spring does.
Such a system would not return to an equilibrium position after a distur-
bance but would rather accelerate ever farther away from equilibrium. Thus,
one can see that a wheelset with a negative taper angle will tend to run off-
center until stopped by one of the flanges. In this case, one would surely con-
clude that the motion of a wheelset with a negative taper angle is unstable.
(The demonstration device with the paper cups taped together such that the
taper is the opposite of the taper shown in Figure 1.1 will demonstrate this
clearly.)
On the other hand, the wheelset with a positive taper angle while not
unstable also is not strictly stable in this analysis since it continues to oscil-
late sinusoidally as it progresses down the rails. Just as a mass-spring oscil-
lator with no damping would oscillate forever, the wheelset after an initial
disturbance would not return to the basic motion but rather would continue
to wander back and forth with a constant amplitude of motion as it traveled
along.
In the case of the wheelset with positive taper angle, the natural frequency
is found by analogy to the mass spring system to be
Introduction: Elementary Vehicles 9

ω n = Ω (2 r0 Ψ/l). (1.9)

The period of the oscillation is

2π 2π l (1.10)
T= =
ωn Ω 2 r0 Ψ

and the wavelength of the oscillating motion is just the distance traveled in
the time of one oscillation,

l . (1.11)
λ = xT
 = r0 ΩT = 2 πr0
2 r0 Ψ

It is interesting to note that the wavelength is independent of Ω and hence


of the speed at which the wheelset is rolling along the track for this kine-
matic model.
For cylindrical wheels with Ψ = 0, there would be neither a self-­centering
effect nor a tendency to steer away from the center and y would equal zero.
In this case, the wheelset would roll in a straight line until one of the flanges
encountered the side of one of the rails if the initial value of θ were not pre-
cisely zero. Furthermore, if the track had any curvature, the wheelset would
certainly have to rely on the flanges to keep it on the rails. The tapered wheels
follow a slightly curved track without slipping by shifting off-center, which
adjusts the rolling radii as in Equations 1.1 and 1.2.
This example assumed rolling without any relative motion between the
wheel and the rail at the contact point, which turns out to be unrealistic
at high speed. What this simple example has shown is merely that tapered
wheels tend to steer themselves toward the center of the tracks, but this
mathematical model does not reveal whether the resulting oscillation would
actually die down or build up in time. The tiniest change in the assump-
tion of rolling without slip changes the purely sinusoidal motion to one that
decays or grows slightly in amplitude.
This leaves open the possibility that the tapered wheelset, even with the
positive taper angle, might actually be either truly stable or actually unsta-
ble. A more complicated model of the wheel–rail interaction is required to
answer this question and it will be presented in Chapter 10.
Although this first example was analyzed in the time domain, Equation
1.11 suggests that time is not inherently a part of this problem. The sinusoi-
dal motion is the same in space regardless of the speed of the wheelset so it
might be more logical to view the problem as a function of space, x, rather
than time, t. The next introductory example actually uses a dynamic model
based on rigid body dynamics that is inherently time-based. In this sense it
is more typical of the vehicle models to follow.
10 Vehicle Dynamics, Stability, and Control

1.2 The Dynamics of a Shopping Cart


A large part of the rest of this book will be devoted to ground vehicles using
pneumatic tires. It is not easy to start immediately to analyze such vehicles
without beginning with a fairly long discussion of the means of character-
izing the generation of lateral forces by tires. This is the subject of Chapter 4.
On the other hand, it is possible to introduce some of the basic ideas of vehi-
cle dynamics and stability if a ground vehicle can be idealized in such a
way that the tire characteristics do not have to be described in any detail.
In the introductory case to be discussed below, an idealized shopping cart,
we will replace actual tire characteristics with simple kinematic constraints.
This idealization actually works quite well for the hard rubber tires typi-
cally used on shopping carts up to the point at which the wheels actually are
forced to slide sideways. This type of idealization allows one to focus on the
dynamic model of the vehicle itself without worrying about details of the
tire force-generating mechanism.
Most courses in dynamics mainly treat inertial coordinate systems when
applying the laws of mechanics to rigid bodies. As will be demonstrated in
Chapter 5, this approach is logical, for example when studying the stability
of trailers, but there is another way to write equations for freely moving
vehicles such as automobiles and airplanes that turns out to be simpler
and is commonly used in vehicle dynamics studies. The description of
the vehicle motion involves the use of a body-fixed coordinate system (i.e., a
coordinate system attached to the body and moving with it). This type of
description is not commonly discussed in typical mechanics textbooks so
it will be presented in a general framework in Chapter 2. In the present
example, the two ways of writing dynamic equations will be presented in
a simplified form.
Finally, the shopping cart example introduces the analysis of stability for
dynamic vehicle models in the simplest possible way. The final dynamic
equation of motion is only of first order so the eigenvalue problem that is
at the heart of stability analysis is almost trivial. The general concepts and
theory behind stability analysis for linearized systems is discussed in some
detail in Chapter 3.
A supermarket shopping cart has casters in the front that are supposed
to swivel so that the front can be pushed easily in any direction and a back
axle with fixed wheels that are supposed to roll easily and resist sideways
motion. Anyone who has actually used a shopping cart realizes that real
carts often deviate significantly from these ideals. The casters at the front
often do not pivot well so the cart is hard to turn and one is often forced to
skid the back wheels to make a sharp turn. Furthermore, the wheels often
do not roll easily so quite a push is required to keep the cart moving. On the
other hand, a mathematically ideal cart serves as a good introduction to the
type of analysis used to study ground vehicles in general.
Introduction: Elementary Vehicles 11

After analyzing the stability properties of the ideal cart, one can experi-
ment with a nonideal real cart and find that the basic conclusions do hold
true in the main even when the idealizations are not strictly true. (This might
be better done in a parking lot than in the aisles of a supermarket.) This
example provides a preview of the much more complex analysis of the lateral
stability of automobiles in Chapter 6.
The interaction of the tires of the shopping cart with the ground will be
highly simplified. It will be assumed that the front wheels generate no side
force at all because of the pivoting casters. The front of the cart can be moved
sideways with no side force required because the casters are supposed to
swivel without friction and the wheels are also assumed to roll without
friction.
At the rear, the wheels are assumed to roll straight ahead with no resis-
tance to rolling but to allow no sideways motion at all. Obviously, if the rear
wheels are pushed sideways hard enough they will slide sideways, but if the
side forces are small enough, the wheels roll essentially only in the direction
that they are pointed.

1.2.1 Inertial Coordinate System


The first analysis will consider motion of the cart to be described in an x – y
inertial reference frame. Figure 1.2 shows a view of the shopping cart seen
from above. The coordinates x and y locate the center of mass of the cart with
respect to the ground and ϕ is the angle of the cart centerline with respect to
a line on the ground parallel to the x-axis. The x – y axes are supposed to be
neither accelerating nor rotating and thus they are an inertial frame in which
Newton’s laws are easily written. The cart is assumed to move only in plane
motion.
In Figure 1.2, the parameters of the cart are a and b, the distance from the
center of mass to the front and rear axles, respectively, m, the mass, and Iz, the
moment of inertia about the mass center and with respect to the vertical axis.

.
y
a φ
m, Iz
y .
x
b

x
F

FIGURE 1.2
Shopping cart described in an inertial coordinate frame.
12 Vehicle Dynamics, Stability, and Control

(As we will see, the track or width between the front or rear wheels turns out
not to play a role in this analysis.)
The basic motion of the center of mass will be considered to be along the
x-axis so the variables needed to describe the perturbed motion are primar-
ily y(t) and ϕ(t). (In principle, x(t) is also needed, but for the basic as well as
the perturbed motion, it will be assumed that x = U, a constant, so x(t) = Ut +
constant. Thus, the speed U will play the role of a parameter in the analy-
sis. As we will see, this assumption is reasonable as long as the variables
describing the perturbed motion remain small.) In the basic motion, y,  ϕ, and
φ all vanish and the cart proceeds along the x-direction at a strictly constant
speed U since there are no forces in the x-direction.
For the perturbed motion, y is assumed to be small compared with U, and
ϕ and φ are also small. (To be precise, bφ is considered to be small compared
to U.) If ϕ is a small angle, the small angle approximations cos ϕ ≌ 1 and
­sin ϕ ≌ ϕ can be used when considering the perturbed motion. The side force
at the rear wheels is F, and since the rear wheels are assumed to roll without
friction, there is no force in the direction the rear wheels are rolling. At the
front axle there is no force at all in the x – y plane because of the casters.
There are, of course, vertical forces at both axles that are necessary to support
the weight of the cart, but they play no role in the lateral dynamics of the cart.
Because the cart is described in an inertial coordinate system and is exe-
cuting plane motion, three equations of motion are easily written. The equa-
tions state that the force equals mass times acceleration of the center of mass
in the x- and y-directions and moment about the center of mass equals rate
of change of angular momentum around the z-axis. Using the fact that the
angle ϕ is assumed to be very small for the perturbed motion, the equations
of motion are

mx = − F sin φ ≅ − Fφ ≅ 0, (1.12)

my = F cos φ ≅ F, (1.13)

 = − Fb.
Izφ (1.14)

In Equation 1.12, the acceleration in the x-direction is seen to be not exactly


zero. However, we consider that the forward velocity U is initially large and
does not change much as long as the angle ϕ remains small. From Equations
1.13 and 1.14 we see that the acceleration in the y-direction and the angu-
lar acceleration are large compared to the x-direction acceleration when ϕ is
small.
Considering the velocity of the center of the rear axle, one can derive the
condition of zero sideways velocity for the rear wheels. The basic kinematic
Introduction: Elementary Vehicles 13

velocity relation for two points on the same rigid body (see, for example,
Crandall et al. 1968) is

   
vB = v A + ω × rAB , (1.15)
 
where ω is the angular velocity of the body and rAB is the vector distance
between A and B.

In the case at hand, let v A represent the velocity of the mass center and
 
let vB represent the velocity of the center of the rear axle. Then ω is a vector
  The
perpendicular to x and y in the z-direction. The magnitude of ω is φ.

magnitude of rAB is just the distance, b, between the center of gravity and the
center of the rear axle.
Figure 1.3 shows the velocity components involved when Equation 1.15 is
 
evaluated. The component bφ represents the term ω × rAB in Equation 1.15.
From Figure 1.3, one can see that the side velocity (with respect to the cen-
ter line of the cart) at the center of the rear axle is

y cos φ − bφ − U sin φ = 0. (1.16)

Using the small angle approximations, the final relation needed is simply
a statement that this sideways velocity of the center of the rear axle should
vanish.

y − bφ − U φ = 0. (1.17)

(It is true but perhaps not completely obvious at first that if the two rear
wheels cannot move sideways but can only roll in the direction that they are
pointed instantaneously, then any point on the rear axle also cannot have
any sideways velocity. This means that the kinematic constraint of Equation
1.17 derived for the center of the axle properly also constrains the variables
such that the two wheels also have no sideways velocity.)
Now combining Equations 1.13 and 1.14, one can eliminate F, yielding
a single dynamic equation involving y and φ . Then, after differentiating

.
y
φ
. .
y x= U
b
φ
.
x =U
.

FIGURE 1.3
Velocity components at the center of the rear axle.
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In the grottoes within the Caucasian icy mountains, which the bold
glance of mortal has never spied, where the frost creates an eternal
translucent vault and dulls the fall of the sun’s rays, where lightning
is dead, where thunder is fettered, there stands, cut into ice, a
mighty mansion. There are the storms, there are the cold, blizzards,
tempests; there Winter reigns, devouring years. This austere sister
of other days, though hoary, is swift and agile. Rival of Spring,
Autumn and Summer, she is clad in the purple woven of snow; stark-
frozen steam serves her as veil. Her throne has the form of a
diamond mountain. Great pillars, of ice constructed, cast a silvery
sheen, illumined by the sun; over the heavenly vault glides the solar
splendour, and then it seems a mass of ice is on fire.
The elements have no motion: the air dares not move, nor the fire
glow. There are no coloured fields; among the fields of ice gleam
only frozen flowery vapours; the waters in the heavens, melted by
the rays, hang, petrified, in wavy layers; there in the air you may
discern the words of prophecy, but all is stark, and nature dead. Only
tremor, chill and frost have life; hoar frosts move about, while
zephyrs grow dumb; snowstorms whirl about in flight, frosts reign in
the place of summer luxury. There the ice represents the ruins of
cities, one look at which congeals your blood. Pressed by the frosts,
the snows there form silvery mounds and fields of diamonds. From
there Winter spreads her dominion over us, devouring the grass in
the fields, the flowers in the vales, and sucking up the living sap of
trees, and on cold pinions bears frosts to us, driving day away,
prolonging gloomy nights, and compelling the sun to turn aside his
beaming eyes: with trembling, forests and rivers await her, and chills
weave her shrouds from the white billows.
Platón (in civil life Peter Geórgevich) Levshín.
(1737-1812.)
What Feofán Prokopóvich had been to the reign of Peter
the Great, Platón was to Catherine II. After having studied in
the Moscow Theological Academy, where he became a
teacher even before ending his course, he took the tonsure at
twenty-two; at twenty-five he was made rector of the
Seminary. In the same year he attracted Catherine’s attention
by an eloquent speech On the Usefulness of Piety, and he
was at once called to St. Petersburg to be her son’s spiritual
teacher (see p. 326). Platón rose rapidly, and in 1787 he was
made metropolitan of Moscow. His liberal and enlightened
views on theology were valued not only at home, but his Brief
Theology, originally published in 1755, has been translated
into most European languages, and three times into English.
A Russian source informs us that his book on theology was
made a text-book at Oxford and Cambridge. Several
Englishmen who had visited him, and Dr. Stanley, spoke in
the highest terms of this Russian divine.
The translation of his Brief Theology in English bears the
following titles: The Present State of the Greek Church in
Russia; or, A Summary of Christian Divinity, by Platón, Late
Metropolitan of Moscow, translated from the Slavonian ... by
Robert Pinkerton, Edinburgh, 1814, and New York, 1815; The
Orthodox Doctrine of the Apostolic Eastern Church; or, A
Compendium of Christian Theology, translated from the
Greek ... to which is appended a Treatise on Melchisedec,
London, Manchester [printed], 1857; Κατηχησις—The Great
Catechism of the Holy Catholic Apostolic and Orthodox
Church, translated from the Greek by J. T. S., London, 1867.
A Sermon preached by order of Her Imperial Majesty, on the
Tomb of Peter the Great, in the Cathedral Church of St.
Petersburg, London, 1770.
WHAT ARE IDOLATERS?

The second commandment forbiddeth idolatry, and every unlawful


mode of worshipping God.
At one time, almost all nations were in such a state of error (and
even now there are many in the same situation), that they
worshipped the creatures as gods, such as the sun, the moon, fire,
also the lower animals, as bulls, cats, crocodiles; and some even
worshipped herbs, such as onion and garlic; and to all these they
offered sacrifices, and paid other divine honours, or they made
statues in the likeness of men and other animals, and bowed down
before them as if they were divinities. But from these shocking and
awful errors, the grace of Jesus Christ has delivered us (I Peter iv.
3).
Such persons also resemble those idolaters as labour for
Mammon and their belly; that is, whose thoughts are all taken up
about amassing riches, which they either do not make use of, or only
sacrifice to their fleshly lusts. With such people, Mammon and the
belly are the idols, to whom they devote all their services; and on this
account the Holy Scriptures call the love of riches, idolatry (Col. iii.
5); and those also idolaters who make their belly their God (Phil. iii.
19).
This commandment also forbids the use of all unlawful means in
the worship of God; that is, when anyone thinks of pleasing God by
that which is not acceptable to Him, and which is not commanded in
His Word. Such, for instance, were those Israelites who presented to
God costly sacrifices while they led ungodly lives. And therefore
God, through His prophet Isaiah, declared sacrifices presented from
such hands to be hateful in His eyes; that is, their oblations were
vain, their incense was an abomination and their fatted calves like
dogs in His sight (chap. i. II). Those persons consequently
transgress against this commandment:
1. Who offer hypocritical worship.—Who utter long prayers, which
of itself is pious, but suppose that they shall be heard for their much
speaking, though at the same time they feel no contrition of spirit. Of
a similar character, also, are those hypocrites who on every occasion
show themselves zealous for the name of God, zealous for the faith,
the glory and the interests of the Church, and who introduce all their
speeches with spiritual observations (which in themselves are
praiseworthy), but who with all this have nothing in view but the
indulgence of a spirit of ostentation, or promoting their own interest
in all that they do, and whose zeal consists only in words with which
their conduct does not in the least agree.
2. Hypocritical observances of the fasts.—Who fast, that is,
abstain from certain kind of food, and on that account hope for divine
acceptance, though at the same time they live in every kind of
iniquity. By them the real fast, which does not consist merely in
abstinence from food, but in restraining the corrupt passions, is evil
spoken of. Such, also, are those who adorn the churches, or cover
the pictures of the saints with gold and silver, yet at the same time
oppress the innocent, who are the Church of the living God, or leave
the poor without food. It is in vain, however, for them to declare that
they have done all that they should have done in order to be saved;
for, according to the words of Christ “these ought they to have done,
and not to leave the other undone” (Matt. xxiii. 23).
3. The superstitious.—Who invent certain miraculous kinds of
appearances, for the sake of filthy lucre, or from some sort of
extravagant ideas about the salvation of their souls, or who attach an
unknown kind of sanctity to some particular places, believing that
God will hear prayers sooner in one place than in another. In a word,
all those who transgress against this commandment, who, according
to the testimony of Christ, place their hope of salvation in externals,
and “omit the weightier matters of law, judgment, mercy and faith.”
Therefore, respecting such characters, divine truth declares “This
people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me
with their lips; but their heart is far from me. But in vain they do
worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men”
(Matt. xv. 8, 9).
Reverencing the pictures is not contrary to this commandment.
We do not act contrary to this commandment, when, according to
the ancient custom of Christians, we adorn our temples with the holy
pictures. For, in the first place, we do not attempt to draw upon the
canvas a representation of the unseen and incomprehensible God,
whom we never can represent; but we represent our Saviour in the
fashion of a man which He took upon Himself, or His favourites.
Secondly, the pictures are made and placed in our churches, not for
deification, but to commemorate the acts of God and of His chosen
servants, that we, in beholding them (as, for instance, in looking on
the picture of our crucified Saviour), may stir up our soul to piety and
to the imitation of them in many acts of their lives. Thirdly, the
obeisance which we make before the pictures we do not render to
the pictures themselves, that is, to the boards, colours, ornaments or
skill of the artist, but we render this to the person whom they
represent, and to the pictures only an affectionate salutation. Thus,
for example, I bow before the picture of my Saviour, but the devotion
of my spirit, my faith, supplication and hope, and the obeisance
which I pay, are all rendered to my Saviour alone, who is in heaven,
and everywhere present, and the picture is only a kind of sensible
incitement of my devotion. Moreover, it is necessary to be known
that the obeisance performed before the picture of our Saviour, and
that before the picture of any of the saints, though to appearances
the same, yet in reality are very different indeed. For the worship
which I perform before the picture of the Saviour consists in the
deepest humility of soul before Him as Lord and Creator of all; but
that which I perform before the pictures of the saints is a reverence
which I render to them out of a loving heart as His favourites, and as
of the same nature, and of the same Church, and members of the
same body with myself.

Of such as err in reverencing the pictures.


But notwithstanding all that has been said, this lawful and holy
reverencing of the pictures may be turned into the most abominable
sin of idolatry. This is the case when anyone hopes in, or attaches all
his respect to the holy pictures, and trusts in their material
substance; when, for instance, anyone finds greater sanctity in one
picture than in another, or places in them any hope of salvation.
They, too, are chargeable with this guilt who bring their own
particular picture into the church along with them, and only worship
before it, or who respect those pictures more which are adorned than
the unadorned, the old more than the new, or decline praying at all
when they have not a picture before them. All these, and such like,
are great transgressors, and prove a great disgrace to the real
profession of the Christian faith.
In order to avoid the above-named errors, it is necessary to
remember, 1st, That the worship of God can never be sincere,
unless it proceed from a contrite and unfeigned spirit. For all external
rites of worship are only marks testifying our internal piety and
sincerity towards God, without which they signify nothing. And
therefore the gospel requires that the worshippers of God should
worship Him in spirit (not externally alone), and in truth, or not in
hypocrisy. 2d, We must hold to the divine Word alone, and rest
assured that it only contains the true rules by which we ought to
please God. And therefore Christ said concerning the Holy
Scriptures that in them is contained eternal life.—From The Present
State of the Greek Church in Russia, translated by R. Pinkerton.

FROM THE ADDRESS UPON THE ACCESSION OF ALEXANDER


I.

Thus has the Lord granted to us the privilege of seeing our


Emperor crowned and exalted above men. But we, sons of Russia,
what is our part in this solemnity? Do not our thanksgivings resound
in gratitude to the King of kings for the grace He has bestowed on
our monarch and upon us? Yes, they resound with heartfelt fervour,
warmed with hopes of a future reign of national glory and
happiness!...
This crown, Sire, on your head, is a pledge to us of honour, fame
and renown, but imposes upon you duties and labours which can
only cease with your life; this sceptre in your right hand, a guarantee
to us of repose, demands of you incessant vigilance for our
protection; this emblem of empire in your left hand, a promise to us
of security, exacts of you little but anxiety and care; this purple, for us
a shield and defence from our enemies, challenges you to war and
contests; finally, this whole Imperial attire, to us a source of
consolation and confidence, is for you a burden wrought with danger
and toil—yes, a burden and a labour. For see, to your eyes there will
appear an empire the largest upon which the sun has ever shone;
from your wisdom it looks for the harmonious connection of its parts,
the regulation of the whole. You will see flocking to your feet widows,
orphans, the most destitute, the victims of the abuse of power, of
favour, of corruption and of crime....
But, alas! that near the angels of light the eye should discover the
fiendish spirits of darkness. Flattery, calumny and cunning, with all
their wretched brood, will surround your throne, and foolishly imagine
that their hypocrisy will beguile you. Bribery and partiality will raise
their glossy heads and labour to lower the scale of justice. Luxury,
adorned with every voluptuous charm, presents the intoxicating
draughts of perilous joys to lead astray from the path of virtue the
pure spirit, and engulf it in the slough of indolence and sensuality.
Besieged by this riotous band, you will undoubtedly turn to truth,
justice, wisdom and religion, and, united with you, they will raise their
voice to God that He may rise again in you, and scatter your
enemies.
Monarch of Russia! This struggle awaits you. For this contest gird
on your sword! Draw it with valour, young hero! Fight, conquer and
govern! The omnipotent arm of the Almighty will wonderfully protect
you. We say rightly “wonderfully”; for here not to fall, here to
conquer, here to maintain order and peace, truly! for this is more
than human strength required; and, though the decree of the Eternal
Being has appointed for you an exalted rank among men, you are
nevertheless a man like any of us.—Given in Grahame’s The
Progress of Science, Art and Literature in Russia.
Iván Ivánovich Khémnitser. (1745-1784.)
Khémnitser was the son of a German physician who had
emigrated to Russia. At thirteen years of age he left his home
and entered military service, which he left in 1769 as a
lieutenant; he then served in the Department of Mines, and
died in Smyrna, where he was Russian consul. Khémnitser
translated La Fontaine’s and Gellert’s fables, but two-thirds of
all the fables he wrote are his own. He forms the transitional
stage between Sumarókov and Krylóv, and is distinguished
for extreme simplicity of language and a certain elegiac tone.
Sir John Bowring has translated his The House-Builder,
The Rich and the Poor Man, The Lion’s Council of State, and
The Waggons. Sutherland Edwards, in his The Russians at
Home, gives a version of The Metaphysician, which is also
reprinted in F. R. Grahame’s The Progress of Science, Art
and Literature in Russia.

THE LION’S COUNCIL OF STATE

A lion held a court for state affairs:


Why? That is not your business, sir, ’twas theirs!
He called the elephants for counsellors—still
The council-board was incomplete;
And the king deemed it fit
With asses all the vacancies to fill.
Heaven help the state—for lo! the bench of asses
The bench of elephants by far surpasses.
He was a fool, the foresaid king, you’ll say:
Better have kept those places vacant surely,
Than fill them up so poorly.
O no! that’s not the royal way;
Things have been done for ages thus,—and we
Have a deep reverence for antiquity:
Naught worse, sir, than to be, or to appear
Wiser and better than our fathers were.
The list must be complete, even though you make it
Complete with asses; for the lion saw
Such had for ages been the law,—
He was no radical to break it!
“Besides,” he said, “my elephants’ good sense
Will soon my asses’ ignorance diminish,
For wisdom has a mighty influence.”
They made a pretty finish!
The asses’ folly soon obtained the sway:
The elephants became as dull as they!

—From Sir John Bowring’s Specimens of the Russian Poets, Part I.

THE METAPHYSICIAN

A father had heard that children were sent beyond the sea to
study, and that those who had been abroad are invariably preferred
to those who had never been there, and that such people are
respected as being possessed of wisdom. Seeing this, he decided to
send his son also beyond the sea, for he was rich and did not wish to
fall behind the others.
His son learned something, but, being stupid, returned more stupid
yet. He had fallen into the hands of scholastic prevaricators who
more than once have deprived people of their senses by giving
explanations of inexplicable things; they taught him no whit, and sent
him home a fool for ever. Formerly he used to utter simply stupid
things, but now he gave them a scientific turn. Formerly fools only
could not understand him, but now even wise men could not grasp
him: his home, the city, the whole world, was tired of his chattering.
Once, raving in a metaphysical meditation over an old proposition
to find the first cause of all things,—while he was soaring in the
clouds in thought,—he walked off the road and fell into a ditch. His
father, who happened to be with him, hastened to bring a rope, in
order to save the precious wisdom of his house. In the meantime his
wise offspring sat in the ditch and meditated: “What can be the
cause of my fall? The cause of my stumbling,” the wiseacre
concluded, “is an earthquake. And the precipitous tendency towards
the ditch may have been produced by an aërial pressure, and a
coactive interrelation of the seven planets and the earth and ditch.”...
His father arrived with the rope: “Here,” he said, “is a rope for you!
Take hold of it, and I will pull you out. Hold on to it and do not let it
slip!” “No, don’t pull yet: tell me first what kind of a thing is a rope?”
His father was not a learned man, but he had his wits about him,
so, leaving his foolish question alone, he said: “A rope is a thing with
which to pull people out of ditches into which they have fallen.” “Why
have they not invented a machine for that? A rope is too simple a
thing.” “’T would take time for that,” his father replied, “whereas your
salvation is now at hand.” “Time? What kind of a thing is time?”
“Time is a thing that I am not going to waste with a fool. Stay there,”
his father said, “until I shall return!”
How would it be if all the other verbose talkers were collected and
put in the ditch to serve him as companions? Well, it would take a
much larger ditch for that.
Yákov Borísovich Knyazhnín. (1742-1791.)
Knyazhnín was born in Pskov, where he received his early
education; in St. Petersburg he acquired German, French and
Italian, and began to write verses. He served in civil and
military government offices. In 1769 he wrote his first tragedy,
Dido, which attracted Catherine’s attention to him. He then
married Sumarókov’s daughter and devoted himself more
especially to literature. Knyazhnín wrote a number of
tragedies and comedies: the subject of all of these is taken
from Italian and French, thus his Vadím of Nóvgorod is based
on Metastasio’s Clemenza di Tito, and the original of Odd
People is Destouches’s L’homme singulier. The Vadím of
Nóvgorod had a peculiar history. Knyazhnín had great
admiration for Catherine and her autocratic rule. In his Vadím
he tried to depict the struggle between republican Nóvgorod
and the monarchic Rúrik, in which the latter comes out
victorious, to the advantage of unruly Nóvgorod. He had
written it in 1789, but did not stage it on account of the
disturbed condition of Europe under the incipient French
Revolution. Two years after his death, in 1793, Princess
Dáshkov, the President of the Academy, inadvertently ordered
it to be published. The book appeared most inopportunely, at
the very time the Revolution had broken forth. The tendency
of the tragedy was overlooked, and only the republican
utterances of Vadím were taken notice of. The book was
ordered to be burnt by the executioner, but as only a few
copies could be found in the storeroom of the Academy, the
rest having been sold in the meanwhile, they were privately
destroyed.

VADÍM OF NÓVGOROD

ACT I., SCENE 2. VADÍM, PRENÉST AND VÍGOR


Vadím. Could Rúrik so transform your spirit that you only weep
where your duty is to strike?
Prenést. We burn to follow you, to be glorified for ever, to crush
the haughty throne, to resuscitate our land; but though the zeal
already burns within our hearts, it sees as yet no means of its
fulfilment. Disdaining harsh and laborious days, if needs we must
die, we are ready; but that our death be not in vain and could save
our beloved land from evil, and that, intent to break the fetters, we
tighten them not more in servitude,—we must expect the aid of the
immortals, for the gods can give us a favourable opportunity.
Vadím. So we must depend alone upon the gods and ingloriously
remain the slaves we are? The gods have given us the opportunity
to wrest back freedom, and hearts to dare, and hands to strike! Their
aid is within us: what else do you wish? Go, creep, await in vain their
thunder, but I alone, boiling with anger, will move to die for you, for I
can brook no master! O fate! For three years absent from my
country, enticed by victory for its glory I left liberty and happiness
within these walls against us erected, and have been hurling pride
into the dust. I bear the fruit of my exploits a gift to my nation: but
what do I see? Lords who have lost their liberty bent in loathsome
slavery before the king, and kissing their yoke under the sceptre. Tell
me, how could you, seeing your country’s fall, for a moment prolong
your life in shame? And if you could not preserve your liberty,—how
could you bear the light and want to live?
Vígor. As before, we burn with love for our fatherland!
Vadím. Prove it not with words, but with your blood! From your
speech reject that sacred word. Or can slaves have a fatherland?
Vígor. Your spirit justly is with grief embittered, but in vain you,
bedimmed by anger, accuse us, who are innocent, of such an evil
crime. No sooner did you before the army bid our land good-bye,
than many lords, seeing a means for evildoing, they, the mighty, let
into the city, for the country’s doom, arrogance, envy, hatred, riot.
The home of peace was transformed into a hell; the holy truth
henceforth passed away; liberty, flurried, tottered to its fall; civil strife
with brazen brow erected a house of death upon the bodies of its
citizens. The people seeing itself a prey of hungry ravens fought with
madness for the election of a tyrant. The whole Vólkhov boiled with
reeking blood. Pitiful Nóvgorod, you saw no salvation! The venerable
Gostomýsl, with grey hair adorned, had lost all his sons under these
our walls, and, weeping not for them but the calamity of the citizens,
was alone given to us a consolation by the immortals. He invited
Rúrik to our aid, and with his sword returned happiness to us. Just
then, worn out from years and woes, Gostomýsl ended his days,
beaming with joy for having brought back peace to his country; but
departing to the gods and honouring Rúrik’s heroism, he enjoined
the nation to leave to him the power which had put a stop to its
groans and sorrows. Our people, touched by so great deserts,
placed the saviour over itself as ruler.
Vadím. Ruler! Rúrik! What nation has he saved? Having come to
our aid, what has he done for us? He has paid a debt! However his
benefactions may have seemed to you to deserve repayment, were
you compelled to pay with your liberty, and make your enslavement
a gift to merit? O low souls that fall down before fate and are
inveigled by the stream of chance,—oh, if you had known how to
respect yourselves! Blessed would Rúrik be, if he had been able,
though clad in porphyry, to become equal to our citizens. Renowned
by his high title among all kings, he would have been sufficiently
rewarded by this distinction. Tell me: did Gostomýsl, aware of his
heroic deeds, enjoin fetters to you, to end your woes, or was his will
the freedom of the citizens? Or did he turn you over to him, like
those beasts whom anyone who lists may bridle?

ODD PEOPLE

ACT II., SCENE 2. MRS. INDOLENT, ÚLINKA, WEATHERVANE

Weathervane. Ma charmante Úlinka! Oh, how beautiful you are!


Tous ces gens, how stupid, how dishonest, and they will not see in
your eyes what I see.
Úlinka. And what do you see?
Weathervane. Friponne! As if you did not know yourself that it is
not possible to hate you, that you are fairer than heaven! (Úlinka
courtesies.) You courtesy! How elegant! What a consolation to have
such a daughter! (To Mrs. Indolent.) Is it not so, Maman?
Mrs. Indolent. I must confess that her education is what her birth
demands, and as she has all liberty in her movements, as behooves
a daughter born of me, she is, sir, removed from all coarseness; and
keeping herself aloof from everything, as our dignity demands, she
knows neither how to sew nor weave, leaving such occupations to
common people; she dances like a peacock, sings like a nightingale,
and, knowing French like a Frenchwoman, she would like to forget
her Russian; she retires at three o’clock, rises at twelve, and passes
two hours at her toilet.
Weathervane. Bravo, madam! That’s the way it ought to be before
the world and men,—ah, how do you call it? pour les gens du haut
ton. You must pardon me a little, madam, if I too, duly cautious of my
honour, regard our language to be nothing but a jargon, in which it is
not possible properly to express your thoughts, and where you have
to wear yourself out mercilessly in the attempt of finding your ideas.
Only out of compulsion do I speak that language to my lackey,
coachman and with all common people, where there is no need to
exert yourself in thinking. But with our distinguished people it would
be to appear a fool, not to speak French to them. Pray tell me, how
could I fall in love? Je brûle, je languis! How could I express that in
Russian to charming Úlinka: I faint, I burn,—fi donc! I must assume
that you speak French, and so does your époux....
Mrs. Indolent (perplexed). Of course, of course! Comment vous
portez-vous?
Weathervane. Bravo, madam!
Mrs. Indolent. I am now a little out of practice, but formerly I never
prattled in Russian.
Weathervane. You will hardly believe how poor I am in Russian! In
Russian my intelligence is so narrow, so small! But in French: o, que
le diable m’emporte! My intelligence at once walks in by the grande
porte. I’ll tell you what once happened to me. I was once sitting with
a young lady who did not know two words of French, and that
caused ma tête horriblement to ache, so that I had to pass a whole
day at home in undress.
Mrs. Indolent. I should not think the harm could be so great. The
pain, no doubt, was caused through nagimation.
Weathervane. Imagination you meant to say?
Mrs. Indolent. That’s it. You see, though I am a little out of practice,
I am still able to adorn our coarse tongue, which I despise, with
French morsels. My époux has always seemed such an odd fellow to
me because, though he knows French like a Frenchman, he does
not care to amuse himself with that charming language.
Weathervane. That, madam, I cannot understand. A nobleman....
Mrs. Indolent. Oh! His race is as distinguished as the ace of
trumps, and nobody can compare with him in antiquity of origin: he
can recount his ancestors a thousand years back.
Weathervane. And so there is not the least obstacle, ma
charmante Úlinka, for regarding you as my own! (Úlinka makes a
courtesy.) Everything is equal in us: the graces, and pleasures, and
intelligence, je m’en flatte, and even our families. (Úlinka courtesies.)
How delicate your courtesying at the mention of family! Courtesying
takes the place of redundant language, de discours frivoles,
superfluous babbling. She knows how to say everything in a
charming manner, and with modesty to express an immodest wish,
who knows how to courtesy like Úlinka. (Noticing Mrs. Indolent’s
husband.) Please tell me who is that bear that is walking towards
us?
Mrs. Indolent. My husband.
Weathervane. You are joking! Is it not rather his ancestor who a
thousand years ago began his race?
Mrs. Indolent. The exterior, you know, does not tell much. In this
world, sir, it is not rare for hidden nobility to deceive the eye: though
the diamond does not shine in the dark, yet it is a diamond. He is, I
assure you, a nobleman of ancient race, and, forgive me, a bit of a
philosopher.
Weathervane. Is it not a shame to rank yourself with asses? Is it
an occupation for a nobleman to philosophise?
Mrs. Indolent (to Úlinka). Now, Úlinka, you cannot stay here; we
have to talk with father about you. (Úlinka courtesies. Exit.)

SCENE 3. INDOLENT, MRS. INDOLENT, WEATHERVANE

Mrs. Indolent (aside). O Heaven! Help me to end all successfully. I


tremble, I am afraid my husband will give me away, for he cannot
speak a word of French, and it is but recently that he was made a
nobleman. How unfortunate I am! How am I to bear it all? (To her
husband.) You see here that distinguished cavalier who is doing us
the extreme honour.
Weathervane (bending, greets him foppishly). I wish to be a son-
in-law....
Indolent (seating himself). He who wants to sit down, let him sit
down. I have no use for your manners, according to which one has
to be urged to sit down. Well, distinguished cavalier ... (Weathervane
bows again foppishly) please quit your monograms which you are
making with your feet. By bowing in flourishes, between us be it said,
you will find little favour with me. With all these goatlike leaps a
person appears to me to be full of wind and without a soul. Sir, make
a mental note of it, if you wish to be my son-in-law.
Weathervane. If I wish? O ciel! Those are tous mes vœux! Agnes
Sorel was not so loved by the French king, as your daughter by me.
Je jurerai toujours, I may say without making any court to her, she is
a divinité!
Indolent (to his wife in amazement). From where, dear wife, has
God sent you such a cavalier?
Weathervane. Beaucoup d’honneur, monsieur! So I have found
favour in your eyes? I knew I would. You will not find another one like
me, monsieur!
Indolent. Mosyo, give me a chance to regain my senses! I beg
you....
Weathervane. But you put me to shame: you flatter me by saying
that you are stunned by me.
Indolent. Proceed, tormentor!
Weathervane. ’Tis true I have merite; without boasting, j’ose vous
dire that; but I do not know whether it will cause any delire,—only the
world says that it would take a pretty good man to beat me for talent;
qu’un homme tel que moi....
Indolent. Don’t believe it, the world often rants.
Weathervane. Comment?
Indolent. Tell me, are you a Russian or a Frenchman?
Weathervane. Hélas! I am not a Frenchman!
Indolent. What makes you groan so?
Weathervane (sorrowfully). I am a Russian, and that is a burden
on my heart.
Indolent. And so you regard it an insult to be a Russian? A fine
distinguished nobleman!
Weathervane. I am very, very glad, on ne peut plus, that I have
pleased you, monsieur; que vous avez the same thoughts as I. How
can we best prove our nobility? By not knowing Russian, despising
all that is ours,—those are the veritable signs of our descent.
Indolent. Though I cannot understand everything you say, since I
do not know any foreign words, yet by the marks....
Weathervane. Vous vous moquez, monsieur. You do know French.
Indolent (angrily). No, no, no!
Weathervane. At your age, monsieur, it is not proper for you to
deceive me. You speak French like a Frenchman, or like myself.
Indolent (impatiently). Wife, assure him of it, and put a stop to this
nonsense.
Weathervane (angrily). Je ne le croirai point! How stubborn you
are!
Indolent (excitedly). The devil....
Mrs. Indolent (rapidly). My darling, please do not get angry.
Indolent (excitedly). Both of you go to! I have not seen the like of
him in all my life.
Mrs. Indolent. You are a philosopher, and does Seneca, sir, teach
you that?
Indolent (coolly). I am ready to constrain myself, if only he will talk
Russian with me.
Weathervane. What! you are of a very noble origin, and you are
piqued?
Indolent (beside himself). Who told you so? I am of burgher origin,
but of a good family.
Weathervane. You, monsieur, have been a nobleman these
thousand years.
Indolent. Believe me, I am a new-baked dumpling; but I am more
juicy than those that have grown tough.
Mrs. Indolent. Stop that....
Indolent. That we may understand each other, I shall tell you
plainly: my father, all remember that, was an honest smith.
Weathervane. Qu’entends-je! (He walks away, singing a French
song.)
Indolent. Good-bye!
Mrs. Indolent (fainting away). I am undone! Oh, I am sick!
Indolent. What nonsense! To feel sick because I cannot speak
French, and because my father is a smith! You ought not to have
treated me that way, by lying about me. No, my Úlinka shall not
marry him.
Princess Ekaterína Románovna Dáshkov. (1743-
1810.)
Princess Dáshkov was educated in the house of her uncle,
Vice-Chancellor Vorontsóv. She knew a number of foreign
languages and took an interest in politics, rummaging through
the documents in her uncle’s archives. She travelled much
abroad, where she cultivated the acquaintance of Diderot and
Voltaire; during a visit in England, when her son was
graduating from the Edinburgh University, she met also
Robertson and Adam Smith. Upon her return to Russia,
Catherine II., partly from a sincere respect for her talents, and
partly to reward her for her efforts in obtaining the throne for
the Empress, made her the President of the Russian
Academy which Princess Dáshkov had herself founded. Her
labours for the Academy were both thorough and far-
reaching. She encouraged young writers, sent men abroad to
be educated, published the first dictionary of the Russian
language, caused others to translate from foreign tongues,
and herself translated, especially from English; she
established several periodicals and did much for the
advancement of science. In 1795, Princess Dáshkov incurred
the Empress’s disfavour for permitting Knyazhnín’s drama,
Vadím of Nóvgorod, to be published in the Russian Theatre
(see p. 308). Paul, who ascended the throne the next year,
removed her from her post, but at the accession of Alexander
I., the Academy unanimously voted to reinstate her as its
President, but she declined the offer.
Her Memoirs were originally written in French, but they first
saw the light in English, under the title: Memoirs of Princess
Dashkaw, Written by Herself, edited by Mrs. W. Bradford,
London, 1840, 2 vols.

THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A RUSSIAN ACADEMY


One day, whilst I was walking with the Empress in the gardens of
Tsárskoe Seló, our conversation turned on the beauty and richness
of the Russian language, which led me to express a sort of surprise
that her Majesty, who could well appreciate its value, and was
herself an author, had never thought of establishing a Russian
Academy.
I observed that nothing was wanting but rules, and a good
dictionary, to render our language wholly independent of those
foreign terms and phrases, so very inferior to our own in expression
and energy, which had been so absurdly introduced into it.
“I really know not,” replied her Majesty, “how it happens that such
an idea has not been already carried into effect; the usefulness of an
establishment for the improvement of our own language has often
occupied my thoughts, and I have even given directions about it.”
“That is very surprising, madam,” said I, “for surely nothing can
well be easier than the execution of such a project. There is a great
variety of models to be found, and you have only to make choice of
the best.”
“Do you, Princess, I beg,” returned her Majesty, “give me a sketch
of one.”
“It would be better, madam,” replied I, “were you to order one of
your secretaries to present you with a plan of the French Academy,
the Academy at Berlin, and a few others, with remarks on such
particulars as might be better adapted to the genius and habits of
your own people.”
“I entreat of you, I must beg to repeat it,” said the Empress, “that
you will take upon yourself this trouble, for then I can confidently look
forward, through your zeal and activity, to the accomplishment of an
object which, with shame I confess it, has been too long delayed.”
“The trouble, madam,” I said, “will be very trifling, and I will obey
you as expeditiously as possible; but I have not the books I wish to
refer to at hand, and I must be allowed the liberty of again assuring
your Majesty that any of the secretaries in the ante-chamber would
execute the commission better than myself.”

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