Russians hold Pushkin in such high esteem that his place in Russian literature can reasonably be compared to that of Shakespeare in the literatures of the English language. Pushkin's literary genius seems to have been almost limitless: in addition to the long narrative and short lyric poems for which he is most famous, he also wrote short stories, stage plays and literary criticism. His letters are among the best in European literature. Many literary historians believe that the legend which suggests the composer Salieri may have murdered ....