In a recent review of Frederick Seidel poems (NYRB 7.16.09), the reviewer mentions a poem with the following reference to an Isaac Babel story: "Like the young bride in the Babel story / Forced to eat her husband's penis."

Anyone know title of this story? Is it from Red Cavalry collection? (the incident of bizarre violence would suggest so) I've read lots of Babel's stories, but never came across this one.

I have read everything written by Babel. I am rather confident he never wrote anything like that. The reviewer must have been confused.

Possibly he is confused with a scene of a pogrom (rather, after-pogrom) when the narrators find a dead body with genitalia cut off and shoved inside the victim's mouth. There is also mentioning of rapes during pogroms. This is part of the collection of stories "Konarmia" (Mounted Army).

Ivan, it's in a story titled "The Road" (as translated by Peter Constantine).

There is a short story by Babel titled "The road", and there is scene there where a Jewish teacher is shot in front of his young wife, but in the Russian original there is nothing about eating penises.

The book is right in front of me as I write this.

The sceene appeared in a 1932 Russian edition. There is no such sceene in any Russian editions since 1966. English translators were using the early version of 'The Road'. http://community.livejournal.com/alt_lit...

`Interesting, Igor. I thought I'd read somewhere that Russian editions had cut that scene. Too inflamatory, no doubt.

Tom wrote: "Too inflammatory, no doubt."

That's not so obvious. This scene emphasizes the cruelty of the anti-bolshevik guerrilla and it would not necessarily trigger censorship. I found some discussions on the internet and apparently there is an opinion that Babel himself wanted this scene out. I see a few reasons for that: (1) it is in contradiction with the next scene where the same muzhik not only does not kill the narrator, but even rather friendly addresses him in Yiddish (after having robbed him, of course). (2) This particular story is narrated in intentionally calm, unemotional way. The omitted scene is actually also written in the same style, but the action itself is so gross that it violates the flow of this emotionless narration. I can see why Babel could have, possible, wanted this scene out, and I can see the reasons behind not restoring it in the uncensored post-communist editions.